A Work in Progress

Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save.

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,

the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
the LORD, who remains faithful forever.    Psalm 146:3-6

Every time I watch the news I am reminded of just how fallible and unreliable humankind is. Yet, it has been my experience that many people tend to put those they look up to on a pedestal of sorts. The adorning fans of movie stars and music mavens revere them as they expect perfection. The followers of the political leaders and media giants expect nothing short of great wisdom and impeccable decision making. The congregants of popular preachers or evangelists, even Christian based music makers, assume these standouts lead lives above reproach. So many put their faith in people who by virtue of their position, talent and profession are in the public eye.

God's word clearly tells us not to put our trust in "princes, in mortal men, who cannot save". God knows that all human beings are imperfect creatures and they will make bad decisions. These people who are in positions of leadership either by choice or circumstance are still lowly humans. This includes local church leaders, local government, your bible study leaders or pastors. Even, your friends, coworkers and family members are not exceptions.  They will let us and themselves down.

It is easy for us to look to someone else to be an example of what we think 'good' is. It is almost a relief to feel as though we cannot measure up. It takes the pressure off to hold someone else to higher accountability than ourselves. And, when those individuals whom we have put on the pedestal trips, stumbles or falls in a crashing heap we quickly stand in judgment. However, instead of seeing all of their mistakes and deciding that they should have known better, maybe we should look in a mirror.  Looking closely at ourselves before we start casting stones to see that we too are imperfect and have made mistakes.  Would we want to be the one with our lives in all its ugliness displayed in the public eye?

To me, what we must remember, what I have been convicted by, is that by God's grace I am forgiven therefore, I must also forgive.  I must be willing to accept people for who they are and show them the same love and mercy which I have received from a gracious and loving God.  I have received many 'second' chances in my life and I have to be willing to afford others that same opportunity.  God changed me.  He has smoothed some of my rough edges.  He has strengthened some of my weak places and mended many cracks in this simple clay pot.  I am still a work in progress.  I have to remember, we all do, that we are all continuous works in progress in the Master's hands.  I have no room in my life for condemnation and judgment of others for I would be beaten bloody by the stones that could be thrown my way were it not for the sacrifice of Jesus!

God thank you, thank you for your gift of salvation and the forgiveness afforded me through Jesus.  I want always to remember this truth and to see others through your eyes.  Fill my heart Lord with your love and place in me your forgiving spirit.  Let me not think too highly of myself to ever sit in judgment of another but show me ways to encourage the fallen to look to you, for you are our hope!

God is good, all the time...All the time, God is good!  May his grace be sufficient for you today!

He Hears Me, I Am Free

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity.  Jeremiah 29:12-14

Most of us have heard, quoted and claimed for ourselves the promise made in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  We all want to be reminded in the midst of our hectic and sometimes harried lives that God is in control and is watching out for us.  This morning as I was reading over this promise, reminding myself of God's sovereignty I went a bit farther and found yet another promise that brings me great encouragement and peace.

When I call upon Him and pray to Him he will listen to me!  If I seek Him with all my heart I will find Him.  And, when I find Him he will bring me back from captivity!  Amen to that.  No, I am not in slavery in Babylon as the Israelites were at the time this passage was originally written.  However, I or we have our kinds of captivity that we deal with.  Captivity to sin, addictions, self-doubt, over indulgence, gossip and the list could go on.  Pretty much anything in our lives that is in excess or distracts our attention from the things of God.  Things that do not bring
glory to Him or to his kingdom or are destructive in some way to ourselves and others.

We all have methods of captivity in our lives.  We all do things we should not no matter how small or insignificant, or monumental and life-changing they are.  But the promise made by the One true God is what we need to focus on.  We need to read it, repeat it, take it all in and internalize it until it becomes a part of us.  We need to spend time seeking, praying and believing that God not only hears us, but listens to us!  He cares that he is found by us and he will free us from whatever our particular bondage is.

Thank you God for being that listening ear that I need.  You already know what I have on my heart, but you still listen intently and you promise to help.  My hope is found in you and because of that, I have a bright future ahead of me in you!

 

Let's seek him with all of our hearts today my friends!  He is our redeemer, our freedom from the trappings of this world and the messes we make in our mistakes.

Testing, Testing….

Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."
Exodus 20:20

Have you ever had a day where things just don't come together?  I'm not talking about major issues, although that certainly has happened to me before, but a day when all the small things just seem off.  A day when from the time you get up out of bed in the morning you feel almost as though the universe is lined up against you.  I had one of those days yesterday and I thought I would take a moment to share my thoughts on this.

As I got up yesterday morning, I just felt tired.  I didn't want to get up.  I had no energy and certainly no enthusiasm for the day ahead.  I finally did get up and when I did I just felt like I was walking in a fog.  I followed my morning routine and took that all important shower, where I should add, I got shampoo in my eyes; this was number 1.  I finished the getting beautified and presentable routine and made my way down the hall to the kitchen for that all important cup of coffee.

I have this new, by-the-cup coffee maker that uses little pods and wouldn't you know it all I had left in my supply was decaf; number 2.  Moving ahead I sit down in my usual spot at the dining room table to do my devotion and all the things I had forgotten to get done the day before come rushing into my mind.  I can't concentrate so I give up on bible study or writing.  I know there is no point when I can't quiet the thoughts in my head long enough to hear from God.  This I am certain is where I made my mistake, where I failed the test of the day.

Many times in my Christian walk I have been bombarded by errant thoughts when I was trying to spend time with my Heavenly Father.  Most of the time instead of reading, writing or any of the usual things I do to try to direct my concentration on the task at hand I try to 'be still' just as the He says in his Word.  When I do this and I try to sit in silence, or at least my own silence, my spirit and my mind calm down and I begin to relax.  I start praying just a few words at a time giving God a chance to speak to my spirit.  But not yesterday.  I forged ahead.  I left for work early so I could run the errand I forgot the day before.  I did not stop and let God become my focus for the day and really give Him center stage.  From that point on, the day was rough and completely off kilter.

Once I got to work I fell into my routine.  I tried to make coffee, made a mess.  I tried to fix my usual bowl of oatmeal and spilled it all over the place. I sat down at my desk to start on my paper work and could not focus.  A co-worker offered me a doughnut which I told her I certainly did not need but ate anyway and not 10 minutes later my pants ripped up the side and I had to go home and change.  And somewhere in there, and I am not sure where, I spilled something on my uniform shirt.  It goes on, but I'm sure you get the gist.  As all of this was going on my patience and attitude were effected.  I got more and more agitated which in turn made the situation worse. 

I am not saying that everyday goes perfectly when I do spend my morning with God.  But what I know is that when I do, the little inconveniences do not grow into monumental messes, at least in my own mind.  I realized later as I was thinking back over the day what was different.  I prayed and asked God to calm me and give me some peace.  This morning I was talking to Him before my feet even hit the floor. And I gave myself enough time to not be rushed so I could spend some time in His quiet presence asking Him to be my compass and give direction to this day.  I hope you do the same.  If you haven't done this yet, do it now.  It makes a world of difference.

Dear God I thank you for being in my life and for guiding me.  I thank you for loving me enough to test my faith and resolve.  It's only through you that I have the strength and the courage to face each day.  When I focus on you first instead of on the busyness of my life things just seem to fall into place and my approach and reaction is tempered by your mercy and grace.  Please be with me today as I walk in your light.  Help me to shine it on those around me and help me to live out the blessing you have so graciously afforded me so that others will see you!

I pray each of you find you special quiet moments with God today.  He alone is in control and can give you what you need for each moment of every day!

Whirlwind of Prayer

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
James 5:15

These last few days have been a whirlwind of need passed on through prayer requests for family and friends. This week
I have called upon you, my friends and prayer warriors, to lift up the concerns of our Christian brothers and sisters as they
have faced great physical pain, illness and medical procedures. Thank you so much for your faithfulness. I believe with all
my heart that your willingness to carry these requests to the cross, lifting them to our Heavenly Father made all the difference.
I know in my own situation this week it brought me peace in knowing that God was hearing from his children on our behalf.

What I have found as well, it that sharing those concerns, my own and those of my friends, blessed me in ways I could not
have imagined. Realizing that I have so many who are willing to take a few moments to petition God on behalf of another,
sometimes whom they themselves do not even know, truly bolstered my own faith. My faith in God, my faith in the church
and my faith in my friends! It just doesn't get much better!

Keep praying my friends! It does indeed make a difference even if the outcome is not exactly what we expected.

God thank you so much for the way you have touched my life and the lives of those around me this week. I have seen your
hand at work, healing and comforting in many ways. I feel so blessed to be your beloved child and immeasurably so in the
company of such faithful family.


May we all see , hear, feel and know that God is always there beside us! We see it in the faces of our family. Hear it in
the voices of those speaking blessing and petitioning in prayer. Feel it in the warmth of hugs from our friends who
support us. And Know, that all of these things are possible because of a loving, faithful God who cares for us.

He Wastes Nothing

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. John 6:12-13

Let nothing be wasted, in life, in love, in food, in play, in everything under the sun and on the earth.  I believe that Jesus wastes nothing. He knows us intimately, better than we know ourselves and to think that he would go to such measures over picking up scraps of bread leftover from five barley loaves used to feed five thousand and would allow anything to go unused would not make sense. Having already demonstrated to this crowd of thousands the great power he had it would have been  less work to just leave the crumbs behind or stir up a wind to blow them away. So why go to the effort of picking up the leftover pieces up? Why gather them and collect them in baskets making the proclamation to the disciples and those who were present, "Let nothing be wasted"?

He was making a point and showing them and us that there is nothing too small, insignificant or unnoticed by him. There are no 'throw-a-ways" to Jesus. We are all important and He pays close attention to the details. I'm sure there are times when we feel as though we are left behind in the race of life. We think no one sees us and no one cares. When we are struggling with difficult circumstances that are stretching our spiritual muscles leaving us exhausted and bewildered, we want it to make sense. We want our pain and suffering to end for sure, but we want it to matter, for there to be a reason.

In this one small statement, I see that everything matters to Jesus. He says 'nothing' is to be wasted. Not a morsel of bread that would surely waste away to nothing if left in place. Not a hurt, not a struggle, not a triumph or a victory; nothing at all. It is all to be used by Him for the glory of His kingdom. As for us, we must trust, just as this crowd of people did that He will feed us. In John 6:35 Jesus reveals that He is the 'bread of life' and by believing in him none will go hungry or experience eternal death. In Him we have life and not just any life, but eternal, victorious and abundant life. Will it be perfect or easy? No! We will make an impact however, if we live it for and through Him. He will provide for us and waste nothing.  We have experiences that are unique to us, good and bad, and the fact that we survive them, learn from them and live on to encourage others in similar situations that they too can be overcomers is part of how we can make a difference.  God walks through the storms of life with you then gives you the opportunity to share that experience:  He Wastes Nothing!

God I am so very thankful and comforted by your presence and the work you have done in my life.  I ask you to help me see the work of your hands and give me the courage and compassion to share my story with others you place in my path.  Give me the words and the boldness to speak life, your eternal life, to people I meet but most of all give me the strength to live a life pleasing to you, for your glory and honor.

May you all be encouraged today and reminded that you are not alone.  He is with you at all times, even when you may not feel His presence.  You will persevere through your storms and have the opportunity to live out and share your story for the glory of God's kingdom.

Happy Easter—He’s Alive!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Easter! This is certainly a day to rejoice. I have taken time over the last few days to really ponder and meditate on the historical and biblical events that make this day important.

On Thursday I attended the Upper Room service at church. I can remember a time when washing feet seemed a bit 'out there' for me. I did not understand the significance and believe me, feet are one of parts of the body that I do not find attractive on anyone other than tiny babies. But over the last few years I have actually come to look forward to this service because it really brings home to me how Jesus truly was a servant and if our desire is to be like Him, washing feet metaphorically and literally is apart of that. It is who He was and the example He set. Considering it was the last moments on earth that He could spend with the disciples , the fact that He chose this act of service to try and really bring the point home to them speaks to the importance of it. We should serve God and one another.

On Friday I tried to remind myself often that this day, Good Friday, was not just any other day. This was the day that Jesus put feet to His faith in His Father and action to the love He has for all of mankind. He endured the scourging, the beating, the ridicule and ultimately the crucifixion. In spite of all that He suffered He still asked the Father to forgive us for we know not what we do. He wasn't just speaking of the people who were there physically inflicting this torture on Him, He was speaking about all of us. Our sins are what put Him on that cross and His love is what held him there.

On Saturday I took time to imagine what that day would have been like as Jesus lay in the tomb. What were His family and friends doing? Were they having a wake of their own? Did Mary, his mother, share stories of Jesus as a child? Every mother has those little nuggets of information that we hold dear to our heart. A story of something cute our child did, or something ridiculous. But did she share them? I would like to think she did. Did His earthly brothers and sisters tell what kind of big brother He really was? What about the disciples, did they rehash the last three years telling of the great miracles they witnessed and performed because of this friend they had? When someone we love dies we go through this stage of grief where we remember and we share. Would they have been any different?

Today, I am rejoicing! Today I celebrate the truth that Jesus not only died for my sins, but He conquered death and sin and hell as he rose from depths of deaths hold on Him. Today I get to praise God freely and with confidence and I can come to Him with anything because Jesus, His son and my Savior, took on my sin and created a bridge to the throne of God for me. And for you! Because I accepted Him on faith I can spend eternity with Him in heaven. How awesome is that?

Dear God thank you, thank you for the sacrifice you made for me.  Help me understand it, take it all in and live in the love, forgiveness and freedom you set before me.  Let me see you at work in my life and those I come in contact with.

Praise God!  What an awesome and Beautiful Day!

The Day In Between

This is the day in between the two most momentous and important days in history. The one day that Jesus lay in the tomb and was mourned by his family, disciples and friends On this day, the horrendous cruelty of his execution was over and the miraculous raising of him from the dead had not yet occurred. Think of it from your own experience. How do you feel the day after you bury a loved one? I know for me it is always a surreal experience.

I am numb to a point and cannot quite wrap my mind around the reality that this person whom I loved is really gone. I have never witnessed such torture in the physical sense as scourging and crucifixion, but I have watched as bodies of family members have been ravaged by disease. I know that the comparison may seem a bit of a stretch, but standing by while someone you love suffers from illness and endures treatments that almost seem worse in the name of healing is painful to say the least. Especially, when it occurs over several months or even years. Then, when death comes and you feel the loss but also a sense of relief because you know they are no longer suffering the pain and torment, you can sit and reflect on the experience. I tend to go into shut down mode once the burial and all that goes with it is completed. I take the time to absorb, pray and comfort myself by remembering and focusing on the good moments.

I can only imagine that Jesus' family and friends were doing the same. They had watched as He was beaten bloody, spit on, mocked and crucified. They witnessed his death, how the world went dark, the ground shook and the temple was destroyed. Even though He had foretold his death repeatedly , not one of them understood it or believed it.

So on this day, the day in between, I can only think that they too were mourning and trying to absorb what they had witnessed. Maybe sitting in the home of His earthly family, they were holding a wake of their own. Sitting around talking about the good times and all the many miraculous events that had resulted from His short tenure on earth. Mary, his mother, may even have told of stories of his childhood. His brothers and sisters may have shared how they played as children and what he was really like as a big brother. His friends testifying to how he was always there to support them in their times of need. Just like we do. They were telling stories and comforting one another after a great loss that they yet did not understand the importance of.

On this day, we have the opportunity to relate to the emotional aspect of what dealing with His death may have been like for those who knew Him as a man. If we try to put ourselves in their place, we can truly empathize with those who felt His loss in the aching of their hearts. And just maybe, we can truly feel the real pain and weight of the sacrifice that was made on our behalf.

God, help me see the gift of Jesus through your eyes, feel it with your heart and know the importance of it to the depths of my being.  Let it be ever so real to me today that I come to a new understanding of your sacrificial everlasting love.  Help me not to take it for granted, but take hold of the resurrection power you have placed within me by your Holy Spirit.

I pray each of you have a wonderfully blessed day as you spend time with our Savior and Lord.