May 14, 2012
“You Are My Sunshine”
Matthew 5:16
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Yesterday was the day that we take the time to stop and thank all the mothers in our lives for their love, support, and dedication. I was privileged and blessed to have 2 of my granddaughters sing with me in our morning service; MacKenzie who is 9 and Madison who is 2.
From the time that my children were born, I would sing to them all of the time. One song that became a favorite was “You Are My Sunshine.” It has been a joy to see my daughters when their children were born, sing the same song to their babies. So yesterday that was the first song that my granddaughters and I sang together in church. It was so sweet to hear their little voices singing and think that maybe someday they would sing the same song to their children.
How important it is that as mothers we pass down the right traditions to our children. I don’t think we really realize how much power we have as mothers to influence our children and their children’s’ children. It can be very sobering if we think about it. Things that we may not even think they are observing, they see, they know. Lord, help us all to strive to be that Proverbs 31 woman. We will never reach that level of perfection, but we must strive for it in everything that we do.
It’s kind of funny when you think back about your youth and the things that your mother would do or say and you would make a mental note to yourself that you will never do this or say that. Age and maturity has a way of bringing those things to remembrance but now with a new light on them and a new understanding. Maybe mom knew what she was saying and doing all along. I don’t think you really come to appreciate and truly honor your mom until you are older and yes, let’s say it, a little wiser. Life has a way of teaching you lessons through experiencing them on your own.
I was truly blessed to have the mom that I had and still love and respect her even though she is no longer living. She was a very loving mom and loved her children and grandchildren so very much. I am still learning from her example. So, let’s take the time to honor all of these amazing women who have taught us so much and gave of themselves unselfishly to their children. These women who have proven down through history how much influence they have on the entire world. God bless all of you who are filling and will fill this crucial role in life.
Isaiah 60:19
“The sun shall be no more thy light by day;
neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee:
but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light,
and thy God thy glory.”
Thank God, that HE is our ETERNAL LIGHT! Even when everything seems bleak and dark, His light will shine through and light our path and our way. We can’t always depend on the people in this world and maybe you didn’t have a mother who spread her light into your world. God will always be that parent to us when there is no other and He will show us His love and shine His light into our world.
You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You’ll never know dear
How much I love you
Please, don’t take my sunshine away.
What kind of light are we shining? Will it brighten someone’s day? Will it make someone’s load a little lighter? Most importantly, will it light their way to the cross?
May 7, 2012
“There’s an App for That?”
Psalms 37:4
“Delight thyself also in the Lord;
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
I have to admit that I am a
technology junky. I love all of the new bells and whistles that each new gadget
comes out with, seemingly every day. Even though I don’t even understand all of
it, it intrigues me to see how far technology has come and how quickly it
changes. Each new smart phone that comes out boasts of unbelievable functions
that years ago we could have only dreamed about. There are electronics that can
contain volumes of books to read in the thickness of only a quarter of an inch.
We can purchase electronics that will turn the lights on and off in our home,
unlock doors, and keep a watchful eye on things even when we aren’t there. We
can unlock our cars, turn them on and either heat or cool them from the comfort
of our home. All of these things are developed and marketed to make our lives
easier, simpler, and time efficient. Are they really? Amazingly, it seems
as though even with all of this electronic help, we all have less and less time
in our day. These gadgets which were made to make our life better can sometimes
become “time stealers.” Almost everywhere you go, you will see someone
(and most of the time a lot of someones) using some type of electronic device.
Cell phones are carried by almost every person including children.
A few years ago, I tried to talk my husband into getting a smart phone. I reasoned with him that he would be able to have the church and school calendars with him at all times. He would be able to have the entire church directory complete with phone numbers and addresses at his disposal plus a built-in GPS to find these homes when we were out making calls. My husband is not a technology kind of guy. I am always walking from my office to his to fix or show him something on his computer. So he had no interest in MORE technology. The benefit of having all of this information and so much more at our fingertips was calling to me so I bought an iPhone almost 2 years ago. I proceeded to fill it with all of the information necessary for the church and school. You guessed it! Every time he needed something, he would ask me to look it up. He came to see how handy it was to carry this information around although he still didn’t venture out on his own to figure out how to use my phone. Then it happened. One day his phone started acting up and we went to the phone store. There it was, the new iPhone. After a little convincing, he decided to plunge into the technical waters. Now he still isn’t too tech-savy and he has me program and add apps for him, but now every time I look at him, he is doing something on his phone; answering emails, keeping up with the news, etc. There are apps for just about everything. He even has an app that tells him where the nearest restrooms are. Yes, that’s right, believe it or not.
You would think that with all the technology and “time saving” helps that are at at our disposal, we would have so much more time to read God’s Word and pray, but unfortunately just the opposite is true. If we are not in control of these “things” and “gadgets”, they will consume more and more of our time. I’m not saying that these things are bad because just like money they can be used to enrich our lives if we control them. I mean really wouldn’t it be great to have a “God’s Will for Your Life” app? Just click on it each day and God could reveal what you should do and where you should go. There is an app for that!
John 16:13
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth:
for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
We need to just get back to basics and spend time in God’s presence unhindered by all of the “things” around us. How much time are we putting aside for God? How much time do you spend in quiet time alone with Him each day? One of my favorite apps is a Bible app that actually has someone reading the scriptures as I follow along. I use it every day with my devotions. We have to be really careful that the very things that were meant to give us more time, don’t steal our time with the Lord. Stop and think right now. How much time do you spend each day on electronics, phones, and computers? Now be honest, how much time do you spend with the Lord each day? Let’s not let the “things” of this world distract us from the most important thing, and that is time spent listening and talking to the Lord and letting Him lead our lives. I heard this poem from a preacher that I like to listen to and thought it was quite appropriate. Take to heart the ending.
Did Jesus
use a modem at the Sermon on the Mount?
Did He have to be on iTunes for His ministry count?
Did He ever use a fax machine to get His message out?
Did the disciples carry iPhones as they went out and about?
Did Paul use a laptop with lots of ram and rom?
Did he use an email address such as
Paul@rome.com?
Did he always have to hear God’s Word on his personal iPod?
Did he need his Bose ear phones if he wanted to hear from God?
Did Moses use a joy stick at the parting of the sea?
Did he need a satellite GPS to show him where to be?
Did he really receive the commandments on tablets or was it really on CD?
Did he really lead the exodus or was it just on DVD?
If in your life the voice of God is sometimes hard to hear
With other voices calling, His doesn’t touch your ear
Then set aside that iPod, unplug that fancy gear
And open up your BIBLE and talk to God in prayer.
April 30, 2012
“What A Difference A Day
Makes !”
Hebrews 4:14-16
"Seeing then
that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son
of God,let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need."
I read this story and was reminded how true this can be in our own lives.
The
story of a parakeet named Chippie reminds me of the pressures and unexpected
circumstances we can face in life. Chippie never saw it coming. One second he
was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he wassucked in, washed up, and
blown over. The problem began when Chippie's owner decided to clean Chippie's
cage with her vacuum cleaner. It was when she turned to answer the phone that
Chippie accidentally got sucked in.
The owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the
bag. There was Chippie-still alive, but stunned. She grabbed him and raced to
the bathroom to wash him off. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and
shivering, she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor
Chippie never knew what hit him.
A few days after the trauma, a reporter contacted Chippie's owner to see how
the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn't sing much
anymore-he just sits and stares."
What a difference one day, one phone call, one pink slip, one health report, etc. can make. We may start our day out singing on our perch and by the end of the day will have lost our song and just sit and stare. Each of us have experienced those life-changing moments. It’s not so much the events that change us, but our response to these events. God never promised us that everything in our Christian walk would be smooth; that we would skip through life without any detours, accidents, or road blocks. I’m sure when Chippie was sitting high on his perch, everything was great in his little birdy world. Little did he know what was ahead. The mountain tops are awesome and wonderful in our lives, aren’t they? I’d be the first one to raise my hand and say, “yes, I love it up there.” God wants us to rejoice in them and bask in His blessings, but our strength comes when we are down in that valley and totally dependent on His power and strength to get us out. Sometimes we think when everything is going great that we are somehow partly responsible for that and pat ourselves on the back. Pride sets in. We need to learn to trust God and give HIM the praise for both times although I know how hard it is sometimes when you are in the depths of despair and pain. That’s when our faith is put to the test. Will you pass or fail?
Proverbs 27:1
is so true.
“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring
forth.”
Thank the Lord we have a God as it says in the verses above Who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” He knows what we are going through and only He can give the comfort and guidance that we so desperately need.
1 Peter 5:7
says,
"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
God loves us and He wants to help us. We just need to learn to hand it all over to Him and then the hard part is LEAVING it there. Then unlike Chippie, we can get back up on our perch and sing our hearts out in praise to the Lord.
April 23, 2012
“I Trust You, Lord!”
Psalms
31:14-15
“But I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.
My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies,
and from them that persecute me.”
I don’t know about you, but the most encouraging devotionals that I read are the ones that remind me that God is in control and He can handle anything that I may face in the day ahead. I have to admit that sometimes when I wake up knowing what the day may hold or knowing about an issue that we have to deal with, I am less than excited or even dreading the day. So many times we forget Who is in control and we think that everything depends on us. Thank God, that isn’t true! Even before our day begins, God already has it planned out and knows exactly every detail of how our day will play out. But even better than that, He has ALL of the answers and solutions to our problems if we will just let Him be in control. Let’s face it; on our own we don’t have the strength or stamina that we would need to handle all of life’s pressures and demands. But as it says in
Jeremiah 32:27
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for
me?”
Wouldn’t our days be so much easier and so less stressful, if we really believed that with our whole hearts? Be honest, we read that verse and part of us believes that it is true, but part of us still thinks that God may need a little help. Therein enters our stress and overwhelming pressures of life. We worry, plan, and scheme how to “help” the Lord out a little bit. When all God wants is for us to trust Him and each day say to Him, “Lord, I know that YOU are in control and I don’t have to worry about anything today. I know that You have my best interests in mind and will work everything out in my life for my best and Your glory.”
Romans 8:28
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Again, being honest, what most of us do is try to handle things and work out things on our own. We always make a mess out of that, don’t we? Talk about stress level. It rises even higher and we feel like there is no way out and Satan is quick to make you think the same thing. Then when things couldn’t get any worse, we finally come to our senses and do what we should have done in the beginning. We cry out to the Lord for help. Now wouldn’t we have saved ourselves so much grief and wouldn’t our lives go so much more smoothly if we could only “get” that truth?
Are you facing trials in your life? Do you have things that you are dealing with that seem insurmountable? Are you so stressed out that you don’t know which way to turn? I have some very good news for you. When you feel like you are at your wit’s end and you are overcome with worry and stress, remember that GOD is in control! But in order to feel HIS peace, we need to turn it ALL over to Him and let Him work it all out. When everything seems to be out of control and you don’t know which way to turn, be still and you will hear our Savior quietly say, “Relax, I’ve got this!” In order to experience His peace, our response must be, “I trust You, Lord!”
April 16, 2012
“A Spiritual Audit”
“Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.”
Psalm 26:2
Tax time is here again and hopefully everyone got their forms in on time to avoid an audit. I ran across this verse and thought that it was very appropriate this time of year. What if we were to have a “spiritual audit” every year at tax time? What if we examined our personal relationship with the Lord just like we examine our finances? Would we be pleased with what we find or more importantly, would the Lord be pleased? Maybe we could all ask ourselves some questions that would make us take a good hard look at our spiritual life.
1) Am I growing in my spiritual walk and as a Christian or am I still where I was last year at this
time? Or even worse, have I slipped backwards?
Colossians 1:10
“That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
2) Do I have any more dependents this year than I did last year? Have I led anyone to the Lord this
year? Are we telling other people what the Lord has done for us like the Samaritan woman did
and as a result leading others to Christ?
John 4:36-39
“And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal:
that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured,
and ye are entered into their labours.
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman,
which testified, He told me all that ever I did.”
3) What about my contributions? Am I giving to the Lord my time, my talent, and my treasure?
1 Peter 4:10-11
“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another,
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak,
let him speak as the oracles of God;
if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth:
that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
4) Do I need to subtract any sins or habits in my life? Are there things that I need to weed out of
my life to be more effective for HIS use?
Ephesians 4:31
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking,
be put away from you, with all malice:”
Let me encourage you right now, to stop and take a soul-searching look at the last year. Have you grown in the Lord? Are there more souls saved as a result of your witness? Are you giving to the Lord? Not only monetarily, but also of your time and talents? Have you cut things out of your life that hold back your testimony and as a result your effectiveness as a witness for Christ? Maybe these are some questions all of us need to step back and look at every year at this time. Be honest; remember God already knows the answers!
April 9, 2012
“Sin Stinks – Part 2”
Proverbs 28:13
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:
but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."
We have all seen the commercials lately; unsuspecting volunteers are blindfolded and then taken into a room that has been sprayed with a particular air freshener. Then they are asked what the room smells like. These volunteers go on to say how wonderful everything smells and take guesses as to where they are and what they smell. What they don’t know is that they are sitting in the midst of disgusting filth and very unsanitary conditions. As I saw one of these commercials again this week, I was reminded of last week’s devotional, Sin Stinks. What a perfect illustration of what sin does and how we sometimes try to cover it. First, many of us willingly put on blinders before we enter into what we know to be sin. That relieves some of the guilt because if we can’t see it, it must not be. Then we allow ourselves to be drawn into places we should never go and into things that we should not be involved. The world likes to take out its “air freshener” and spray so that it can disguise what is really underneath and make it more appealing to those who are not grounded and unsuspecting. I remember when cigarette commercials were still on TV. They made smoking look so appealing and always with healthy people acting out the parts. They didn’t show how smoking kills people and show people in the hospitals gasping for their last breath. The commercial that is on now is more the reality with the young man saying that smoking took his wife at the young age of 44. That’s what sin really does. The same with drinking. They don’t show how many families have been torn apart all for the sake of alcohol. How many children went without food because daddy drank all the money away. Or how daddy would come home drunk and beat mommy or maybe even the children. Satan doesn’t want you to see the reality that sin will eventually bring. He is a master deceiver. It always amazes me when people say things like, “Well, I can handle it, it doesn’t handle me.” Can you? Satan is a strong enemy and we would be smart to realize his power. There are many other sins that we hide; anger, gossip, envy, etc. No sin is any worse than another. There are no levels or varying degrees of sin.
James 2:10
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law,
and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
Then in the commercial they take off the blindfold and how surprised they are to see where they actually are and what is all around them. Then they see the filth and ugliness that surrounds them. Isn’t that how it is when we get things right with the Lord and He takes the blinders of sin from our eyes. We didn’t know that we had let things get so bad. The reality of sin sets in and we have to face the results that it can bring. Only God can take something so ugly and devastating and make it into something beautiful. Not just smell beautiful, but also look beautiful. All we have to do is ask Him to forgive us, turn from our sin and ask Him to come in and clean up the mess that we have made.
Psalms 51:2
“Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”
1 John 1:6-9
6 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness,
we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
So, you have to ask yourself a couple of questions. When these volunteers were willingly brought into this disgusting room blindfolded and they smelled a pleasant aroma, did it actually change the reality of what was obviously all around them? No, the ugliness was still there whether they chose to see it or believe it. Then when the blinders were taken off, didn’t they have the choice to believe what they “thought” they smelled or deal with the harsh reality? What will you do? Ask the Lord to open your eyes today to the sin that may be in your life. Will you ask for forgiveness and ask the Lord to cleanse you from all unrighteousness?
April 2, 2012
“Sin Stinks”
Psalms 38:5
“My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness
(sins).”
For my Dad’s 90th birthday gift, my family gave him a trip to Lancaster overnight and tickets to Sight and Sound to see “Jonah.” So last week, Dad, Joyce, Carlo and I went to see the new show. It was really great! Sight and Sound always does such an outstanding job in all of their productions. I’m sure you are all familiar with the story of Jonah, but I will give a short recap of his story just to refresh your memory. The people of Nineveh were evil people who had invaded and killed many in Jonah’s country. God spoke to Jonah one day and told him that He wanted Jonah to
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it;
for their wickedness is come up before me.”
Jonah 1:2
Jonah hated these people and wanted nothing to do with them much less go and try to save them from God’s judgment, so he ran and tried to hide from God. Really? Did he really think that he could hide from an all-knowing and all-seeing God? We think we can sometimes, don’t we? He ended up getting on a ship in Joppa headed for Tarshish thinking that he could get even farther away from God’s presence. While on board, a storm arises and it’s discovered that Jonah is the reason for the raging waters all around them. Jonah told the men on the ship about his disobedience and told them to throw him overboard and the sea would calm. The storm got so violent, that even though they didn’t want to, to save their own lives they threw Jonah over the side of the ship. God had prepared a “great fish” to swallow Jonah. Even then God was giving Jonah another chance because he could have just drowned, end of story. But God showed His mercy once again to Jonah. Thank God that He shows His mercy to us every day. Thank God that we don’t always get what we deserve. Jonah spent 3 days and nights in the belly of the fish. Can you imagine the stench? Can you imagine the thoughts that must have gone through Jonah’s mind not knowing if he would live or die? He finally cried out to the Lord to forgive him and the Lord caused the fish to spit Jonah out on land. What a sight he must have been. Stinking, filthy, and hungry.
Sight and Sound used different “signs” to subtly add to the story. At one point as Jonah is running from God, a skunk appears on the scene and sprays Jonah. In the program brochure they explain that they used this scene because “sin stinks.” I thought that was a great visual (and smelly) illustration of sin. Everywhere Jonah went after that, people would back away from him because of the smell. Sin does that to people. You can try to hide it or mask it with perfume, but still underneath it all, “sin still stinks.” It wasn’t until Jonah asked for God’s forgiveness, that he was truly washed clean and freed from the stench of sin. You may try to hide and mask your sin. Maybe you try to cover it with perfume when you come to church or are around other Christians, but you can’t hide it from God. He knows your heart and He knows your weaknesses. We have all seen the results that sin can bring. Smoking, drinking, and a sinful lifestyle. These are all obvious sins, but you may have secret sins in your life that maybe only you know about. You think that you can hide them and that no one knows. God knows you better than anyone ever could. He is not standing to condemn, He wants to forgive, but you have to ask. Examine your heart today and ask God what things are there that are a stench to His nostrils. It may not be an easy thing to ask of God, because He will tell you and then you will have to deal with them. We all need to do this, even daily, to have that sweet fragrant walk with God.
Ecclesiastes 10:1
“Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.”
March 26, 2012
“Follow Me”
Luke 9:23
“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow me.”
Social media has exploded in the past few years. The statistics are astounding and I am going to talk about that a little more later. But not too long ago I became a member of a fairly new one called Pinterest to check out some ideas for our upcoming banquet. Well it wasn’t long and I began to receive emails telling me that I was being followed by this person and that person. I was new to this website and really didn’t know that much about it and my first response was, “Where are they following me to?” So I called my daughter Heather and asked her what this was supposed to mean and she filled me in on the whole process. I still wasn’t sure why anyone would want to follow me though. It got me to thinking about that word “follow.” I decided to do a little research on some of the social media available to just about everyone. First, I looked up some statistics about Facebook which is probably the most popular.
Facebook Statistics 2012:
Ø Facebook currently has 845 million active users.
Ø An average Facebook user has 130 friends and likes 80 pages
Ø Each week on Facebook more than 3.5 billion pieces of content are shared
Ø Facebook users share over 100 billion connections collectively.
Ø Over 50% of the population in North American uses Facebook.
Ø 250 million photos are uploaded to Facebook daily.
Ø The social media giant has 425 million mobile users.
Ø
The
average Facebook user spends 20 minutes on the site per visit.
Twitter Statistics 2012:
Ø Twitter has nearly half a billion registered users, with over 100 million users in the USA alone.
Ø While the USA leads the way, Twitter is also massively popular in Brazil, Japan and the UK
Ø Twitter’s most-followed user, Lady Gaga, is rapidly closing in on 20 million followers
Ø 69 percent of users follow others based on recommendations from friends
I
don’t know about you, but those statistics are staggering to me. We’ve all seen
the icons and messages saying follow me on Facebook or follow
me on Twitter. The enormous influence that some of these people who
are being followed is amazing to me. Imagine Lady Gaga being the most followed
person with 20 million followers. 20 million. What in the world does that say
about our society and who we choose to follow? What are our young people looking
for and what does that say about their direction in life? In the Facebook
statistics it says that 3.5 “billion” pieces of content are being shared. What
is this content? Do any of these “pieces” of content point anyone to the Lord
and share with them how to know that you can have eternal life? Now don’t get me
wrong, I have no problem with any of these avenues of social media, but as
Christians, I think we need to stop and ask ourselves, “What are we sharing
everyday with others that will have an eternal and lasting importance?”
I’m reminded of those words, “follow me” in a much different scenario.
Jesus used those words 23 times in the gospels. When He was choosing each of His
disciples, He used those very words.
Matthew 16:24
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me,
let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Where were they going? Where were they following Jesus to? Would they ever come back? What would it cost them? These men left their homes and their occupations. They left it all behind to follow Jesus. They had enough faith in Him to know that wherever He led them, it was the right direction and the right decision. Do you trust Him enough to follow Him in every direction that He leads and in every decision? Are you following His voice of the voices of the world? Sometimes we are more concerned about those around us and who they are following. Remember in John 21 when Peter is talking to the Lord and the Lord had just asked Peter 3 times, “Lovest thou me?” The Lord wanted to know if Peter loved Him more than anything or anyone else; enough to follow Him wherever He led him. That meant through any circumstances. It’s easy to say flippantly, “Yes, Lord I will follow You,” when everything is going great and all is well, but quite another story when everything looks dark and bleak; when we are staring into the blurry unknown. Peter finally asks the Lord, “What about John?” The Lord answers Peter in verse 22.
John 21:22
“Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
follow thou me.”
Jesus tells Peter, “Don’t worry about John, What business is that of yours anyway? You worry about yourself and YOU follow Me.” We don’t need to worry about what God’s plan is for those around us, we just need to concentrate on God’s will for our own lives and our willingness to follow Him and point others to follow Him and let God do the rest. We can only answer for ourselves but we are still responsible to point others to the Lord.
In John 1:43-51 we read about how Jesus called Philip to “follow Him.” Notice the very next thing that Philip does. He immediately goes out and finds his friend Nathaniel and encourages him to “follow Jesus” also. Philip tells Nathaniel in John 1:46 “Philip saith unto him, Come and see.” How about those who are all around us? Do we encourage them to follow us in the right direction? I thought that it was interesting that one of the statistics for Twitter is that 69 percent of its users follow others based on recommendations from friends. That’s quite an influence on friends and followers. Do you recommend to others to follow Christ? Apparently we have a much stronger influence on our friends than we thought, don’t we? We need to use that influence to make sure that all of our friends and family are sure of Heaven and lead them in the right direction. Nothing comes to us without obligation. We are responsible for our actions, right or wrong.
As I began writing this a couple of weeks ago, it has been interesting how many times this very subject has come up. My husband’s messages the last two weeks have been about becoming “Christ Followers.” Are you a Christ follower? And if so, who is following you? And most importantly, where are you leading them? Don’t ever underestimate your influence on those around you and let’s lead them to Christ as He still today asks us to “Follow Me!”
March 20, 2012
Bling for the King
Last Friday night was our 26th Annual LACE (Ladies After Christ’s Example) Banquet. We had a wonderful time with well over 100 women attending. Our speaker was Cindy Armstrong and she did an excellent job drawing a correlation between our theme, “Is Your Hat Rack Full?” and the Proverbs 31 woman (or as I like to call her, “the impossible dream”). I asked her if I could share some of her thoughts with you this week.
Cindy started by reminding us of an old song of the faith entitled, “Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown?” The song talks about that glorious day when we come face to face with our Savior and present Him with jewels or gems to be placed in our crowns. What have we done down here on earth to earn those jewels? Did we win souls to the Lord? Did we work for the Lord and labor in His ministry? Cindy was trying to think of a way to bring that song into our modern day world verbiage. She came up with “Do you have any bling for the King?” I thought that was great! Bling is a word we hear all the time these days referring to jewels, diamonds, and sparkling gems. She went on to use an acrostic for the word “crown” as it related to the Proverbs 31 woman. I will share with you some of the points that she made.
C =
Courageous and confident: Proverbs
31:16-18 ,24 ,25 2 Timothy 1:7
Proverbs 31:16 “She
considereth a field, and buyeth it:” She
was a woman
ahead of her time. In those days this
was quite an accomplishment for a
woman to be able to carry on business
such as this in a man’s world, but this
woman was very confident and she
wasn’t afraid to go where most women
would only dream.
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind.”
R
= Righteous: Proverbs 31:11 & 31
Verse 11 “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her,”
Verse 31 “Give her of the fruit of
her hands; and let her own works praise her in
the gates.”
There was no need for her husband to worry about
how honest and true that she
was, because she lived her life above
reproach. There was never any doubt in
anyone’s mind about trusting her;
either in business or in her personal life.
O
= Others: Proverbs 31:20, 25, 28
Verse 20 “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth
forth her hands
to the needy.”
Many times in this chapter we read about how she
took care of the poor and reached
out to those around her. It refers
many times to how she took care of her children,
her husband, and her family.
Everything she did was not to exalt herself, but to
enable her to help those all around
her. When we serve others we can’t help but
bless them and not only them, but
ourselves in the process.
W
= Wisdom and work: Proverbs 31:26 & 27
Verse 26 “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the
law of
kindness.”
She wasn’t full of idle talk and gossip. She used
her time wisely and when she talked,
people knew how godly she was because
of the words that would come out of her
mouth. Can people say the same thing
about you? Are the words that come out of
your mouth edifying and full of
wisdom?
Verse 27 “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth
not the bread of
idleness.”
It’s not hard to see by reading these verses that
this was one very busy woman. And
before we go on, let me just say that
the Proverbs 31 woman is given to us as a
standard. Obviously no one woman is
capable of doing “all” of these things, but
these verses are written for us to
strive for these attributes. Not every woman can be
good at every talent, but we can set
our goal toward that end and do the very best we
can in the areas wherein God has
blessed us. I think many times we feel that if we
can’t do the BIG things, then why
bother with the little things. While Cindy was
talking about this point, I was
reminded of a quote that I have written in the back of
my Bible, “Don’t do what you
dream, do what you can!” If only we would take this
to heart. We each have different
talents and abilities and we need to use whatever
they may be (big or small) for the
glory of the Lord. As Cindy pointed out, God is not
so much interested in our ability,
but our availability.
N
= Not satisfied with mediocrity: Proverbs 31:29
Verse 29 “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest
them all.”
One of the things that really bothers
me is to see someone doing a job or task, but
doing it out of duty and just enough
to get by. I know I am somewhat of a
perfectionist and drive some people
crazy with trying to make things “just so,” but I
was always taught to do everything
with all of your might. Especially when it comes
to doing things for the Lord or the
church. I see people that are so particular when it
comes to their own things, but when
asked to do something in the church, they have
a “don’t care” attitude or “it’s good
enough” attitude. Things done for the Lord should
always be done with “all of our
might” because it says a lot about a person’s heart
when they do things just to get by.
Remember, 1 Samuel 16:7 “…for the Lord seeth
not as man seeth; for man looketh on
the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh
on the heart.” Humbling, isn’t
it? And also convicting.
At the beginning of her talk, Cindy addressed the point that first, you need to know the Lord on a personal level in order to see His face and get that crown. I also want to plead with you today that if you are not sure that you will go to Heaven when you die, to please make sure today. It’s a simple matter of trust and faith. Believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that He was raised on the 3rd day. Realize that we are all sinners. Romans 3:23 ”For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Then know that there is nothing that we can do on our own to deserve Heaven. We can’t save ourselves by baptism, church membership, or good works. Only by the blood of Jesus Christ can we receive salvation. Titus 3:5 ”Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Say this prayer meaning it in your heart and you too can receive eternal life in Heaven. “Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that Your Son Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His precious blood to pay for my sin so that I could spend eternity with You in Heaven. I now repent of my sins and ask You to come into my heart and save me. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me. Amen.” It’s that simple and then you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you will spend all eternity in the presence of Jesus. If you have prayed this prayer, please let me know so that I can rejoice with you or if I can help you in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact me. God bless you!
WILL THERE BE ANY STARS IN MY CROWN
I am
thinking today of that beautiful land
I shall reach when the sun goeth down;
When through wonderful grace by my Savior I stand,
Will there be any stars in my crown?
Refrain:
Will there be any stars, any stars in
my crown
When at evening the sun goeth down?
When I wake with the blest in the mansions of rest
Will there be any stars in my crown?
In the strength of the Lord let me labor and pray,
Let me watch as a winner of souls,
That bright stars may be mine in the glorious day,
When His praise like the sea billow rolls.
(Refrain)
O what
joy it will be when His face I behold,
Living gems at his feet to lay down!
It would sweeten my bliss in the city of gold,
Should there be any stars in my crown.
(Refrain)
High King
of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
March 5, 2012
“I Can’t Yike It!”
Psalms 37:3-5
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, (Our
part)
and verily thou shalt be fed. (God’s part)
Delight thyself also in the Lord; (Our part)
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (God’s part)
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; (Our part)
and he shall bring it to pass. (God’s part)
My 2 year old granddaughter Madison is like any other child of that age when it comes to eating. Sometimes she will eat a lot and sometimes she won’t eat anything. While she was staying at my house recently I was trying to get her to eat something, but nothing I offered her appealed to her. So I decided to make egg salad sandwiches for her and her sister MacKenzie. The sandwiches were all made and I had even bought a special cutout for sandwiches that cut the bread in the shape of a heart. Perfect! She can’t possibly turn this down. I was making a big fuss over the heart sandwiches and put it on a plate and sat it down on the tray to her high chair. Without hardly even looking at it, she looked up at me and said, “Nonni, I can’t yike it.” Well, you have to know Madison and the way that she has that melts your heart. Needless to say she didn’t eat much that day. (Until later when she went in Pop-pop’s office where he has an M & M dispenser and cups next to it just for the grandchildren and where Madison usually makes a b-line for as soon as she comes in the door. Very nutrious.)
I got to thinking about that later and thought about how the Lord puts so many delicious and good things before us and without even trying them to see if they are good or not, we turn them down. How many blessings have we missed out on? How many good things could He have done in our lives? How much could we have grown if we would have just taken what He placed before us? Back to the verse we looked at a few weeks ago.
Psalms
34:8
“O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in
him.”
Again, back to those conditions that we must meet. First, we have to taste. Do you see in the verses at the top our part and God’s part? I think too many times we just assume that God gives His promises freely and we don’t have any obligation on our part. Not true. Read those verses above again and pay special attention to our part. Do we trust Him? Do we delight in Him? Are we committed to His way and His path? Are we willing to come out of our comfort zones and taste what the Lord has put before us? Many of you know that my husband is a very picky eater and will make up his mind if he likes something before he even tastes it. Most of the time, he won’t even try tasting something new. I tell him all the time that he will never know what he missed out on because if he would taste it, he may be surprised to find out that he actually likes it. Don’t miss out on God’s blessings and plans for your life. When He puts something new before you and waits to see if you will like it or taste it, have the faith to step out and try it. You will never know what He has in store for you until you trust Him. Don’t make up your mind before you even try it and say, “I can’t yike it.”
February 28, 2012
“Focus!”
Isaiah 26:3
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.”
This time of year is one of the busiest for me. I have been getting things ready for our Missions Month and then in a few weeks is our big annual ladies’ banquet. So during this busy season I find my mind wandering in several different directions at any particular time. (To tell you the truth, my mind wanders off all the time anymore.) Whenever I am around Renae Factor and she sees me staring off into the distance she always takes her hands and forms blinders by her eyes and tells me to “focus.” Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t, but she knows that I am trying to think of too many things at one time and tries to get me to focus back on the topic at hand. This year the theme of our ladies’ banquet is “Is Your Hat Rack Full?” Very appropriate for the subject of this devotional. We all wear so many hats in any given day and we find ourselves running around in circles and our minds in overload. We can’t be effective Christians if we are stressed out and burned out. Let’s admit that it is very hard sometimes to figure out which hats we should be wearing and which ones we should weed out of our wardrobe (lives). That’s when we need to earnestly seek the Lord’s help and He will show us what He wants us to do.
Isaiah 26:3 reminds us that if we will keep our minds focused on the Lord, we will have peace. Did you notice that there is a condition to the peace? Many promises that the Lord gives us requires a condition or action on our part. This one is no exception. The second phrase of that verse tells us that our mind must be “stayed” on Him. This talks of a continual frame of mind that we must have. The Lord wants us to trust Him, to constantly be thinking of Him, and resting in Him. That’s when the peace will come and calm our spirits and our minds. Ok, so I am really talking to myself here right now because I feel so overwhelmed with everything that I “think” I need to accomplish. And yes, there are things that need our attention and our action, but they will go so much more smoothly and less stressful if we will learn to practice to “stay” our minds on the Lord.
2
Corinthians 10:5
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought
to the obedience of Christ;”
February 18, 2012
“She Hath Done What She Could”
Mark 14:8
“She hath done what she could:”
Probably like you, I have read many stories about Fanny Crosby. I ran across something one day written about her and read a few things that I didn’t know. We all know that when she was a baby she got some kind of disease that left her permanently blind. How easy at that point it would have been to just live the rest of her life just existing because of this tragic disability. But she went on to learn how to play the piano and eventually began to write songs and music. Can you even imagine learning the piano totally blind? (I couldn’t even do it sighted.) But Fanny Crosby did. She didn’t let her disability define who she was and Who was in her. Something that most of us would have used as an excuse, she used as a unique and special talent. I also read that P.T. Barnum himself contacted her to perform in his circus, but she refused.
Romans
12:1
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
In one of my Bible classes, we studied about the woman with the alabaster box. She didn’t have much but she did have an alabaster box with expensive, precious, fragrant oil that she totally emptied on the feet of Jesus. She gave all that she had. Just like this woman in Mark 14, Fanny Crosby’s “alabaster box” was to only be used and poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ. What a testimony. What a blessing her songs have been down through the ages like, “Blessed Assurance,” “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” “To God Be the Glory,” “Near the Cross,” “Rescue the Perishing,” “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” just to mention a few of the unbelievable 8,000 hymns that she wrote in her lifetime. A lifetime that some would have looked at as a bleak and unproductive existence. “To God Be the Glory” for sure! I thought it was very interesting and such a tribute to her life that on her tombstone are the words from this verse in Mark, “She hath done what she could.” What a testimony! We all have talents that we can use for the Lord. Some unique and some may seem only mundane, but I was reminded as I read about Fanny Crosby and the woman with the alabaster box that it is not so much about what we give, but that we are willing to give. I only hope that when I die that people will say of me, “She hath done what she could.
1 Corinthians 10:31
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink,
or whatsoever ye do,
do all to the glory of God.”
February 11, 2012
Life Is Like a Box of Chocolates
Proverbs 27:1
“Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring
forth.”
As Valentine’s Day approaches,
our minds run to red roses, gifts, and chocolate. At least my mind always ends
up with chocolate. I was in the drug store this week and the aisle was loaded
with chocolate of every kind. As I was drooling (I mean looking) at the
chocolate, the movie with Forrest Gump came to mind and that famous line that he
spoke, "Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're
gonna get." As I thought about those profound words, I was reminded of
Proverbs 27:1. Each day when we wake up it is like taking a chocolate out of the
box and biting into it. We never know by looking at the outside what is in the
inside. However, as soon as we bite into it we know right away if we are going
to like it or not. My favorite is the caramel ones. I love the caramel days when
everything goes smoothly as planned. Those days are few and far between. Some
days we pull out a chocolate with a filling that we don’t care for and those
days don’t quite measure up to what that chocolate looked like on the outside.
Our days and our lives are so uncertain and the sooner we learn to trust the
Lord no matter what the outcome, the sooner we will grow both in strength and
faith.
James 4:14
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life?
It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
Even on those days when we take a bite into that chocolate and discover it is not our favorite, God has a plan. If we had our choice or way we would only bite into the chocolates that we know have a filling that we like. So many times God teaches us new things by broadening our “taste buds.” We would probably never venture out to try new things or stretch our faith so God has a way of teaching us new things and who knows we may even like some of the choices that He makes for us after all. We can learn so much when we yield to His leading and yes, we may still not like His choice of chocolate for us for that day, but know that He is teaching us and He is stretching us and molding us into His image. So don’t be afraid to take a bite into that chocolate. Taste it knowing that God is in control.
Psalms
34:8
“O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in
him.”
January 28, 2012
Welcome to MY House!
Psalms 27:4
“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.”
Over the past few months I have missed so many church services because of leg and foot surgery, taking care of my daughter Heather after her surgery, and sickness. I was so thankful that we now can watch our services live on the internet. But let me tell you there is nothing like being in God’s house with God’s people. I missed it so much and it felt as though a part of me was missing. I can never understand why so many people look for excuses to skip a service. Trust me if you look hard enough and long enough, the devil will throw all kinds of things in your path that you can use as an excuse. Do you have that desire to be in the Lord’s house whenever there is a service? Or do you try to make up flimsy reasons or excuses why you can’t make it? That tells a lot about your heart. If I didn’t have a desire to go to church, I would check and make sure that I really was a believer. The Bible makes it very clear that we should have a longing for the things of God and the people of God and a craving to gather together in worship. Not only that but He says as the end days are approaching, we should desire it even more, not less.
Hebrews 10:25
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;
but exhorting one another: and so much the more,
as ye see the day approaching.”
I remember many people over the years that have been so faithful in coming to church. One couple stands out in my mind and some of you may remember them, George and Eloise Felix. His wife had had a stroke and was in a wheelchair so you see he could have made a lot of excuses for not coming. But he didn’t! He was so faithful bringing her to every service rain or shine. I can almost see him now driving up to the top of the hill in front of the glass doors and getting her wheelchair out and gently lifting her into it to bring her into the church building. You could always tell that she was as excited to be here as he was. I remember one day in particular when we had a really big snow storm and we weren’t sure whether we should cancel church or not and decided to go with whoever showed up. You guessed it, up to the top of the hill he came bringing his wife to church. I so admired his faithfulness and there have been many others who you knew you could count on every service to be in their place. Can you be counted in that number? I know many times people get out of the routine of going to church faithfully. They begin to hit and miss and then the next thing you know you rarely see them at all. I know it’s hard to get back into the routine of being faithful but that is when your faith and your desire to please and serve the Lord become evident. When I was growing up and when we raised our children, there was never any discussion as to if we were going to church. It was understood that if there was church, we would all be there. Did we always feel like it? No, I’m sure there were times when, just like everyone else, we could have made some kind of excuse to stay home. But we were determined to teach our children and set the example of being faithful, but more importantly we wanted to honor the Lord. And yes, I know we are a preacher’s family, but I know that many other families raised their children in the same way and besides that, God commands faithfulness from us. Maybe it is time for a self-examination. Do you love the things of God? Do you love to be with the people of God? If you look for reasons or excuses to miss church, maybe you need to do some soul-searching and make sure of your salvation today. Let’s make the decision today to be faithful not just some of the time, but all of the time in our church attendance.
Psalms
122:1
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
January 23, 2012
Put Down and Strengthen Your Stakes
Isaiah 54:2
“Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine
habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;”
Isaiah wrote this to the children of Israel when they were in bondage to Babylonia for their disobedience to God. Kind of a strange time to be telling them how God was going to bless them and to get ready to grow wasn’t it? This verse reminds me of the prayer of Jabez. But as I read this verse a phrase jumped out at me; the last phrase “strengthen thy stakes.” So that is what I want to zero in on today. How many times have you found yourself in a situation that just “happened” or “popped up” all of a sudden and you didn’t know which way to turn or what to do? Many times when we talk to people (young and old) and they tell us about situations just like these, it is easy to see which ones were ready with their response and which ones were not. In the midst of these circumstances is not the time to have to make tough decisions or choices that you may make in haste, without much thought, or from a purely emotional state. That is why it is so important that we memorize verses that will help us in these times.
Psalms
119:11
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might
not sin against thee.”
Don’t wait until you are in a difficult situation to decide what to do, make up your mind now what you will do. Think about different scenarios and figure out what you would do in each situation according to the Bible. For instance if you find yourself in a circumstance where drugs or alcohol is offered to you, know ahead of time exactly how you will react and what you will say. You’ve prepared for that moment, you have trained for it. Athletes have plans as to how they respond also. Over the years I have watched Jerry Factor with his clipboard going over plays with his team. Planning out a strategy. He doesn’t just gather up a group of guys and say “go out there and play ball” with no plan. They go over plays and strategize to be able to have the victory. Take a football team for instance; they are all gathered around a board as the coach sketches out different plays that the opposition may make and then shows the team what their defense will be and how they will handle it. They don’t just wander around out on the field against the other team saying “what are we going to do?” They go over and over these plays with the coach so that their stakes are down and they are strengthened and their response becomes second nature. A boxer knows ahead of time when that punch comes from his opponent how he will respond because he has practiced, he has rehearsed it in his mind over and over again. That’s the way we should handle Satan’s attacks. We know the attacks are going to come and we know that he likes to attack in our weakest moments. That’s why it is so important that our stakes are down and they are strengthened ahead of time. Imagine if a storm came up suddenly and your tent was not tied down. (We’ve experienced some of these storms when we have been camping. Thank God we weren’t in a tent.) The winds are howling and you are out in the elements trying desperately to get the stakes and pound them into the ground. It is next to impossible. You don’t have any control or strength against the storm.
Ephesians
6:1
”Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand.”
So get out your stakes. Go over possible situations in your mind and make a plan. Get out your Bible and memorize verses that will help you in that time. Let’s not let our responses be impulsive or without God’s guidance. Pound those stakes down and strengthen them today so when the storm comes tomorrow, you will be safe, protected and able to stand.
Psalms 37:30-31
“The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and
his tongue talketh of judgment.
The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.”
January 16, 2012
Under The Weather
Psalms 91:4
“He shall cover thee with
his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:
his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.”
I have heard this expression many times in the past few weeks. Unfortunately, I am one of the ones using it as I am still not feeling well myself. I wondered what this expression really means. So off to “Google” I went to do some research. Evidently, it was a term used on boats of any kind. When the sea or waters would get rough and people would get sick, they were told to go down below the deck where you couldn’t feel the rocking as much and be below the bad weather above. My mind immediately jumped to the phrase “under His wings.” Isn’t that what the Lord does for us? He gently protects us under His wings from the storms of life.
Psalms 57:1
“Be merciful unto me, O
God, be merciful unto me:
for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my
refuge,
until these calamities be overpast.”
I know just as we have all experienced sickness of some type, we all face the storms of life every day. Some days the storms rage higher and more intense than others, but aren’t you thankful that the storm doesn’t have to be a certain kind or intensity for the Lord to protect us with His wings? He is ready to protect and comfort us in any facet of our lives. Thank God! We can rest safely and confidently knowing that we don’t have to do a thing but trust Him. The Lord will take care of it for us. I don’t know about you, but that gives me GREAT peace even though I need to be reminded of that very fact every now and then. We are so quick to panic and try to work things out on our own. What stress we would save ourselves if we would just learn to tuck ourselves under His wings and rest and trust.
Psalms 36:7
“How excellent is thy
lovingkindness,
O God! therefore the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.”
(Come on sing it with me!)
UNDER HIS WINGS!
Under His wings I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me, and I am His
child.
Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.
Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blessed.
Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life's trials are o'er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,
Resting in Jesus, I'm safe evermore.
There it is, rest in HIM!
January 9, 2012
Dog Fight!
Galatians 5:14-16
“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another,
take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
Ok let’s be honest. How many of you by show of hands would like to tear into someone who has wronged you or been nasty to you? Come on get your hand up. When I read this verse I started laughing because I could in my mind clearly see two dogs in a dog fight. We’ve all seen it at one time or another. The snarling, the barking, the biting. Sometimes some people can make us want to react in this way can’t they? Actually in some instances it could even be a stress reliever. (Just kidding –not) But God is telling us here that we need to walk in HIS Spirit. That’s not always easy to do is it? When people sometimes make snide remarks or remarks with a not so hidden meaning, we can sometimes feel the hair rise up on the back of our necks like a cat and feel our claws starting to extend. Let’s face it sometimes it IS hard to turn the other cheek or smile and respond like Christ. The Bible clearly tells us that we are to take it to Him and He will be our defender. But we still want to help out, don’t we?
Matthew 5:44-45 says,
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you,
and persecute you;That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Ok, doesn’t that seem a little extreme that we are supposed to bless those that curse us? But that is exactly what God is telling us we are to do. That takes a lot of grace and a lot of control. I have to admit, I haven’t reached the point of perfection in that situation. The problem is that when we try to defend ourselves and open our mouths we hurt the cause of Christ and destroy our testimony. We can’t take those words back. Humanly speaking we tell ourselves that we can’t do that and we are right, we can’t. That’s where dying to self comes in and walking in HIS Spirit. I am so encouraged as we study some of the lives of women in the Bible in our Bible Class and how God gave them the courage to be silent and in the end He became their defender. Lord, help us (me) to trust in You to be my Defender.
December 18, 2011
The Perfect Christmas!
Luke 2:10-11
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord.”
Ok, I will tell you right up front that I wrote this
devotional more for myself than anyone and if you would like to listen in on
this conversation, be my guest. I have always been somewhat of a perfectionist
and have high expectations of myself. I feel like I have failed if everything is
not just right. This is the time of year that sometimes makes me crazy. I always
have this Norman Rockwell or Thomas Kinkade vision of what Christmas should look
like, smell like, and sound like. I set all of these standards up for myself and
in the back of my mind if I don’t achieve “all” of them, there can’t be
Christmas or at least not the “perfect” Christmas. I feel the need to make sure
that all of the decorations are just so and that I find that “perfect” gift for
each and every one on my list. It’s a family joke that I always say, “I just
need a little something to go along with the main gift.” The meals are carefully
planned out and preparations made for that special day. My husband and my kids
always say things like, “don’t worry about it or it doesn’t matter if this or
that doesn’t get done.” This makes me even crazier because then I feel as though
I have ruined Christmas if everything on my list is not crossed out. Yes, I know
the true meaning of Christmas and I am sometimes ashamed of myself for getting
my focus off track now and then. I will have to say that I have gotten better at
this through the years. (My family may not agree so don’t ask them.)
Matthew 6:25
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat,
or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”
Philippians 4:6
“Be careful (anxious) for nothing;”
I somehow think that I am probably not the only one who struggles with making sure everything is just right. Remember with me that Christmas is not about the presents, the meals, and the family gatherings although they play a very important part in how we celebrate. But Christmas is about how a baby (the only baby that had a choice to be born) came to earth. How focused are we on making our Christmas perfect and not realizing that Jesus Christ has already made Christmas “PERFECT”? He has already done all the work. He came to earth to be born in a lowly manger as a baby to become our Savior and die on an old rugged cross years later to provide everlasting life for anyone who calls upon His name. What a PERFECT gift!
December 10, 2011
Merry CHRISTmas!
Isaiah 9:6
“For unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be calledWonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
I’m sure that if you have been out Christmas shopping at all, you have noticed or heard about some places and merchants that are trying to be “politically correct” in not referring to “Merry Christmas” but “Happy Holidays.” What a shame that a holiday that has no other foundation or meaning has been reduced to “Happy Holidays.” When you check out at some stores they are trained to say “Happy Holidays” and I always respond by saying “Merry Christmas” (with a big smile) and I have to chuckle under my breath at some of the responses. I will have to say for the most part they look as though they wish they could say the same.
Isn’t it amazing that Christmas has changed so much from what actually happened on that first Christmas night? Before we get too outraged and indignant about what the “world” has done to this celebration, we better take a second look at what we as Christians have also done. We are quick to bring out the quotes, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” (my favorite), “Keep Christ in Christmas,” and many others. But are we REALLY practicing what we preach? So many times we get just as caught up in the commercialism and hurriedness of the season as everyone else. Do we take the time to teach our children why we celebrate this special day? Are we more concentrated on getting that new “hot toy” than we are also getting them something to help them grow spiritually? When our children were little we tried to teach and impress on them the “TRUE” meaning of Christmas. One of the things that we did was to have the kids help make and decorate a birthday cake for Jesus. We would decorate with a special “Happy Birthday Jesus” banner that I bought. Then we would put candles on the cake and sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus. We also tried to train them to think of others who were less fortunate than they were. We would find a family either in our church or a family that we heard about that was struggling and explain to our children about the importance of giving and sharing and how Christ gave to us. We took some of the money that we would have spent on them and took our children shopping to pick out gifts for each person in this family. Then we would deliver them to the family in person with the kids so they could see and experience the joy of giving. Maybe you need to start a tradition of reading the account in the Bible about Jesus’ birth sometime in your festivities. There are so many things that we can do to spread God’s love and celebrate His birth. Let’s not just complain about what the world has done to Christmas, let’s make sure that we as Christians remember and live out the REAL Reason for the Season!
December 4, 2011
The Lightkeeper
Luke 11:34-36
“The light of the body is
the eye: therefore when thine eye is single,
thy whole body also is full of light;
but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark,
the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining
of a candle doth give thee light.”
I discovered the most amazing tool this week. Like many of you, we began the fun (?) task of decorating for Christmas. My son Anthony was helping by hanging the outside lights. We have had several sets of lights that drape like a swag across the front of the house for probably almost 15 years. I just love the way that they look and you can’t find ones like them anymore to replace worn out sets. After he got them all up, plugged them in and yes, you guessed it, half of the sets didn’t work. My husband told me that he thought that was the end of these special light sets. I was really disappointed because I loved these lights. Then I remembered something that I saw as I was wandering through Lowes and Home Depot a few weeks ago (by the way, two of my favorite stores). It was called the “Lightkeeper Pro.” I had seen a commercial for it and just thought it was another of those gimmicks that you buy and sure enough, it doesn’t work. So I decided to go online and check out the reviews. To my surprise, I read review after review that was singing its praises. I told my husband that it was worth a try. I was telling Heather and my son-in-law Shane about it and they almost laughed, being very skeptical. So Carlo went out and got one and brought it home. Now came the moment of truth. I read the directions and proceeded to try it out on my first set of dead lights. The concept is that you plug anyone of the light sockets into this tool which looks like a gun (no doubt the inventor had struggled many hours as I have over the years taking strands of lights and going bulb by bulb trying in vain to find the one that was causing the problem and decided it would be easier to take a gun and shoot it). Then you click the trigger a few times and voila the lights come on. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Heather was half chuckling as she watched me. To all of our amazement, after the second click the lights came on. I’m not sure, but I think I heard the “Hallelujah Chorus” being sung somewhere in the distance. It was like magic. I went on to fix strand after strand. After each set was fixed and lit, it was easy to see which bulbs needed to be replaced.
I began to think about how this worked. How did it do that? At that point, it was worth its weight in gold to me and saved hours and hours of frustration not to mention the money saved from not having to buy new lights. Later in the day, I was telling Ken Carey about this wonderful discovery and asked him how this tool worked. He told me that he already knew about this tool and explained to me how it worked. He said that the batteries in the gun send an electrical charge through the lights and weld the bulbs that had lost contact or make it so the current can bypass burnt out bulbs to keep the rest of the strand lit. At this point, I didn’t even care, it worked.
As I got to thinking about this later, I thought about our spiritual lights. How brightly we shine when we are first saved. Every bulb is lit and we twinkle in this dark world so beautifully. Then in time, we come across a trial or a hurdle in our Christian walk. We get discouraged and begin to back off on our church attendance (out goes a bulb), our Bible reading (out goes another bulb), quiet time with the Lord (yet another bulb), tithing (another bulb), being a witness, etc. Out go the lights one by one until we are no longer effective as a light in a lost world. What happened? We let sin creep in a little at a time. Do you remember a time in your life when all of your bulbs were burning bright? Look at your life now. Do you have burned out bulbs? I have great news for you. Jesus, the ultimate LIGHTKEEPER can make you effective and bright again.
2 Samuel 22:29
“For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness.”
Just plug into His power and ask for forgiveness. He will energize and fix your broken lights so that you will shine bright as you once did. When He shines His light through us, we can see which bulbs have burned out and need to be replaced. I thought the directions for this tool was interesting in one of the questions asked about its procedures. “Is it necessary to replace burned out bulbs in order to fix my lights? Yes. Failing to replace burned out bulbs increases the voltage to the balance of the set each time a bulb burns out. The increased voltages to the other bulbs accelerates the burn out of the remaining bulbs.”
How interesting because that’s what happens to us as Christians. We get disgruntled about one thing over here and the next thing you know, not only that bulb goes out but it takes another with it. Then on and on it goes until we don’t shine at all. All of our lights have burned out and we are no longer effective in shedding light on our own way let alone those who are watching our lives and may be unsaved.
So let me encourage you TODAY! Pull out all of the “bad” bulbs in your strand. Plug into THE Lightkeeper and ask for forgiveness and restoration so that your light will once again shine brightly with HIS glorious light.
Psalms 18:28
"For thou wilt light my
candle:
the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness."
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