Archives

Slipping Over the Line

Feb19

Matthew 5: 28-28: “You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (HCSB)

Jesus had some important things to say about the marriage relationship and specifically to the issue of purity in marriage. He tells us that adultery involves the mind as well as the body, and that is almost a “well, yeah” comment because when we start to think about a set of circumstances, begin to picture in our minds how nice it will be, and begin to justify the reasons for perusing it, it’s a short trip from the thought to the action. Someone recently made the statement to me, “We kept getting closer and closer to the line until one day we were doing things we never thought we would do.” Its better to stay away from the thing that tempts you, or as Dr. E.V. Hill so elegantly puts it, “If you don’t want to slip, don’t walk in slippery places.” Temptation is seductive and attractive. If it didn’t look good to us, we would not be tempted! Most people I hear about who have been in an adulterous relationship, did not intent to end up there. It started with harmless touches or comments, but temptation is a slippery place, and they began to tease and play around with it until they began to slip on that slippery place. It looked sweet and fun it the beginning, but it began to take them places they did not want to go and began a domino effect of destruction in their lives and in the lives of their family. Martin Luther wrote, “You can’t keep the birds from flying overhead, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.” Good looking, charming, friendly people are all around us. We are frequently in situations where a man and a woman are alone in a car or in an office, but it’s the steps we take with that situation that make the difference between walking surefooted and slipping. Marriage is the most intimate relationship between people, but marriage is hard because we are married to selfish and sinful people. But, our spouses are too! In Proverbs 6:32 Solomon says that a man who commits adultery is foolish and destructive. In Matthew 5:29-30 Jesus shows that He takes purity in marriage very seriously and tells us to deal ruthlessly with temptation. Take a moment to evaluate your relationships. Are you getting closer and closer to the line by spending time in a situation that is being destructive to your purity? Are you chasing something that seems sweet and harmless but may take you somewhere you don’t mean to go? Run away from that slippery place right now. Matthew 26:41 tells us that our flesh is weak, but Galatians 5:16 reminds us that when we walk by the Spirit we do not carry out the desires of the flesh. Lord, please give me strength to avoid the slippery places.

The Desires of My Heart

Feb8

Psalm 37:4 –Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. (HCSB)

Psalm 27:14 – Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (ESV)

My husband and I were attending some meetings that required us to stay in a hotel.  It had been a long few days with travel, activities, and gatherings and I was exhausted.  In the wee hours of the final morning I received two text messages, both were bad news from friends, both involved sick family members who had been admitted to the hospital, one a parent, one a child.  I answered the texts, then spent some time in prayer.  I was able to fall back to sleep but it wasn’t a restful sleep so I was seriously dragging myself out of bed when the alarm sounded to begin another day.  As I was standing in the shower, I was desperately hoping that my husband had gone for coffee.  As I washed my hair, I thought of that wonderful nectar that would shore me up to face the day.  As I washed my body, I could envision me savoring those luscious sips as I dressed. But, since I had not shared with my husband my intense desire for that magic potent, sadly there was no coffee waiting when I exited the bathroom. I cannot begin to describe my disappointment!  A.A. Milne said, “You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” Since the coffee had not come to me, I concluded that I needed to go to it and set off on my quest.  As I waited for a very slow elevator, I started to think of how much my morning had been like my life.  I set my heart on a desire. I desperately hope that my desire will be fulfilled.  I am fully convinced that the attainment of my desire will make my days wonderful. I envision myself enjoying the fulfillment of my desire.  But, I do not share my desire with God.  I neither ask for His assistance nor seek His guidance. Just as with the coffee, sometimes when my desires do not come to me, I go after them, and get very impatient when the journey is slower than I would like.  Psalm 27:4 promises that God will give me the desires of my heart if I take delight in Him. Delight in Him means that I take joy in God’s goodness, that I strive to please Him in all that I do, that I trust Him and wait for His plans to unfold. Desires take time, but God delights in giving us our desires if we desire the right things. Psalm 145:15 says “All eyes look to You, and You give them their food in due time.”  I think the words “in due time” are the key words in that scripture. James 4:1-3 talks about how we are so desperate to have our own way that we will go to any lengths to fulfill our own desires, but we don’t go to God because we know that our desires are selfish. Craig Bruce said that we usually have to wait for that which is worth waiting for. My plans for immediate fulfillment seem so good to me, but God’s plans are so much better (Jeremiah 29:11). Lord, please help me to always remember that You are worth waiting for!

Go Out

Jan28

Genesis 12:1 – The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives and your father’s house to the land that I will show you (HCSB)

When my husband and I were newlyweds, we were living in the area where we had both grown up and had every intention of staying there the rest of our lives. Then God called my husband into the ministry, and we went out from our land, our relatives, and our parents’ houses to the land that God promised to show us. After several years of pastoring churches, God called my husband into full time evangelism. At that time we lived in a parsonage nowhere near our birth families, but the community felt like home and we had friends and neighbors that were closer than family. My husband’s new calling would take him away from home days and weeks at a time, sometimes to other countries, leaving me home with a pre-teen son. We couldn’t stay in the parsonage and felt that it would be easier on the new pastor if we disassociated ourselves from the church, so we again left our land, our relatives, and our Father’s House to go to an unknown land. That’s what I have always thought Genesis 12:1 was talking about – physically packing up and moving away, going from a known place to a place of the unknown. In recent weeks I have come to see another meaning in Genesis 12:1. I have come to believe that saying “yes” to God often can mean saying “no” to people. I have come to believe that Genesis 12:1 can also mean leaving the comfortable place of always being the “yes, I can do that” person to the uncomfortable place of occasionally being the “no, I can’t do that” person. I am a people pleaser. I want people to like me. I want to be known as the dependable one. I want people to see my faith be alive through my works. But, all of that can get me to the point where my people pleasing overshadows my God pleasing, where a person’s approval is more of a priority than God’s approval, where being dependable can lead to being drained. Like the writer of Psalm 139:23-24, Lord, I am begging You to make me aware of those things in my life that offend You, times when a call from a friend may not be a call from You, times when it’s a “good thing” but not a “God thing”. Help me to be able to distinguish between the work that You have called me to do and the work that others think I should be doing. Give me the strength to accept my limitations. Help me to lay down the burden that my busyness has become and rest quietly at the feet of the Almighty God who calls me to come to Him.

Different Gifts

Jan16

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 – Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person. A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: (HCSB)

I heard someone recently say, “If it’s the thought that counts in gift giving, how do I get people to think a little harder?” I know I have wondered that same thing! There have been times I’ve opened a gift and was filled with curiosity to know, “What is it about my personality that made you think of me when you decided to give this as a gift?” I have gotten gifts that I knew I would never use. I have gotten gifts that I didn’t know if I would use them or not because I didn’t know what they were. I hate to admit it, but on occasion I have been the giver of those types of gifts. Sometimes it happens that we simply made a bad choice when choosing a gift. Sometimes a gift is required but we have no idea what to give so we go with the attitude that anything is better than nothing. Not all gifts are awful – sometimes we get a gift that we can’t wait to use! God gives us gifts, and His gifts are always perfect because He always knows exactly what is needed. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul tells us that even though our spiritual gifts are very diverse, we need to be careful not to consider one gift more important than another. I started thinking about who in my church has the most important gifts that add to the ministry. I think most people would say the pastor. He is certainly gifted and has the most visible gift, but personally I am very appreciative of the guy who uses his gift of service and empties the trashcans and especially appreciative of the person who makes sure there’s paper in the bathroom stalls! 1 Corinthians 1:10 tells us that Jesus planned for the church to function as one body. My husband and I know a young man that the right side of his brain is perfect and the left side of his brain is perfect, but the part that connects the two sides does not function properly and therefore this young man’s entire body suffers. It is the same if the church body doesn’t not work together. 1 Peter 4:11 tells us that God should be glorified through our service so it should not matter to us if we have the most visible of church jobs or work behind the scenes. Love needs to be the driving force behind our spiritual gifts, and true love ministers with no anticipation of recognition. When we minister in love, God is glorified. As I go about using the gifts You have given to me, Lord, help me to serve others as You would serve them, to speak as You would speak, and to have all my actions immersed in an attitude of love. Help me to always remember that I was not given gifts to impress others but to serve others and to point others to You.

Mary, the Mom

Dec25

Luke 1:38 – Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (NKJV)

With all of the different nativity scenes, the pageants, and the reenactments this time of year, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is brought to our attention. I look at her and can’t help but think of Mary, the mom to Jesus. Luke 1:26-28 tells us that an angel appeared to Mary. As the angel talked to her, Mary became aware of three things – 1. She would get pregnant. 2. Joseph would be well aware it was not his baby. 3. She and Joseph both would be ridiculed, humiliated, and shunned by the people they loved. Mary knew the social climate. She knew all that awaited her when her baby bump began to show. I would think that Mary would plant her feet, and with hands on hips, loudly proclaim, “Have you lost your mind? I’m not doing that!” Quite honestly, that probably would have been my reaction, but Luke 1:38 tells us that Mary said, “Okay. If that is what God wants me to do, I’ll do it.” We have heard the story of how she went into labor while traveling and delivered her baby in a stable — no midwife, no one who had experienced labor to sooth and comfort her when the pains were hard and seemed never ending, no mother or sister or friend to assure and encourage her. I really can’t imagine that Joseph was very much help – first time dads are usually too nervous themselves to be a calming influence on anyone else – and this was a time when men did not participate in the birthing process. I don’t think I can even begin to envision how terrified they must have been! Then it comes time to leave, and they have this baby. I think back to when my son was born and the nurse handed me a baby and told me that I had to take him home with me. I was wondering, “What kind of medical personnel would give a newborn to two such unprepared people? What are these nurses thinking?” I just picture Joseph and Mary looking at the baby and at each other, and wondering, “What is God thinking?” But, they take that little boy and they make a home. Joseph probably made Him work in the carpenter shop. Mary probably made Him watch His younger siblings while she ran errands. I look at Mary and she always looks so serene, and I wonder ………

Mary, when you were coaching your little boy to walk, did you ever think that one day He would coach Peter to walk on water?

Mary, when you were teaching your little boy to speak real words, did you ever think that one day He would speak to thousands?

Mary, when you were teaching your little boy to feed Himself, did you ever think that one day He would feed multitudes with a lunch another mom packed for her little boy?

Mary, when you healed your little boy’s boo-boos with a kiss, did you ever think that one day He would heal people with a touch or a word?

Mary, when your little boy was showing His siblings the best way to get around the village, did you ever think that one day He would show people the only way to get to heaven?

Mary, when you grabbed your little boy and kissed His face, did you ever think that one day soldiers would grab Him and beat Him until that face was unrecognizable?

Mary was a chosen woman, a woman of God, mother to the Christ, but Mary was mom to a little boy that she loved as only a mother can. Mary was an ordinary woman called to do extraordinary things, and God blessed her because she followed the plan that He had for her. Just as God had a plan for Mary, He has a plan for me. Just like Mary, I need to follow the plan He has for me. It may not always make sense to me and it may not be the way I would have chosen, but like Mary I need to say, “Okay. If that’s what God wants me to do, I’ll do it.”

Heavenly Father, I thank You for the promise of Isaiah 41:10. I know that You are always with me (Deuteronomy 31:6), and I know that You have a specific plan meant only for me (Jeremiah 29:11). Forgive my uncertainty, my doubts, and my fears. Forgive me for giving the thoughts and opinions of others the power to blind me to the sight of what You have in store for me. I may not understand and may even be confused by Your plan, but like Mary, I want to boldly say, “Okay. If that’s what God wants me to do, I’ll do it.

Sleepwalking

Dec10

Romans 13:11-12 – Besides this, knowing the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over, and the daylight is near, so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (HCSB)

When I think of someone sleepwalking, I have the Hollywood vision – someone gliding through the house, arms outstretched. In recent years a certain medication has been in the news because those who took it were sleepwalking, sleep-driving, and even sleep-shopping! Dictionary.com defines sleepwalking as the act or state of walking, eating, or performing other motor acts while asleep. While Christians have been physically awake, I am afraid that we have been sleepwalking far too long. There is a story about a man who had a broken cuckoo clock – sometimes it chimed correctly, sometimes it didn’t know when to stop. One night this man was entertaining some of his drinking buddies when the cuckoo bird began to announce the time, but rather than stopping at twelve, that little bird kept right on going. One of the buddies present, jumped up, grabbed his coat, and began to scramble for the door. When his friends called out to him, he shouted back “I need to hurry … its later than its ever been before!” Paul is telling us in Romans 13:11-12 that its later than its ever been before. We need to wake up from our sleepwalking. Judges 16 tells about Samson being physically awake but totally asleep to Delilah’s schemes. Just as Samson needed to wake up to what Delilah was doing towards his ruination, we need to wake up to what God is doing towards His return. Romans 13:13 tells us to wake up to our obvious sins, to wake up to our hidden sins, and to wake up to our attitude sins. So many of us were wide-awake and active as new Christians, but as Christ lingers, we have begun to loiter. We talk about what should be done, what needs to be done, and even what we plan to do, but Benjamin Franklin said, “Well done is better than well said” and Dante Alighieri said “The secret to getting things done is to act!” Now is the time to wake up from our sleep! Lord, I don’t want to be sleepwalking through life. I don’t want to become so focused on getting through today that I forget about eternity. Sleepwalkers have no conscious control over their actions but help me today to be aware of my surroundings and my actions. As that out of control cuckoo clock reminded the drunken man, help me to be aware that it is later than its ever been before.

Suffering and Patience

Nov30

James 5:10-11 – As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (ESV)

Why do bad things happen to good people? Though the ages people have been asking that question. Multiple books have been written on that question. Counselors have spent countless hours trying to answer that question. We can understand why a heavy smoker gets lung cancer or a sexually promiscuous person gets an STD, but why does a person who seems to do everything right get a deadly disease? I have a friend who is having serious health issues. Every test brings more questions than answers. Every medication brings more side effects than were ever advertised. Every day brings new challenges and new obstacles. Why is this happening to her? Sometimes bad things happened to us because we are in the place where bad things are happening — Elijah endured years of drought right along with everyone else. Sometimes bad things happen to us because of someone else’s actions – Joseph spent a large part of his life in slavery because his brothers acted in anger. Sometimes bad things happen and we assume a reason – they must have done something to deserve it. Then a bad thing happens to us, and we aren’t satisfied that maybe its because of our location or maybe its because of someone else’s actions. We know we don’t like it and we want God to provide an explanation as to why He is allowing this, but Proverbs 20:24 asks why we are trying to understand God’s way of doing things. In John 9:2-3 Jesus and His disciples encounter a blind man. The disciples see the man’s blindness as a result of sin and ask whose sin caused it to happen. Jesus answers that it happened so that God’s works might be displayed in him. I can imagine that Joseph had many hours of loneliness and confusion, but God was faithful to him from the pit to Potiphar to prison to power. It is 42 chapters into the book of Job before the man Job understands the situation. James 5:10-11 assures us that we are blessed when we remain steadfast, that God has a purpose, and that He is compassionate and merciful. We don’t always have a clear understanding or know why this thing is happening, but we have a clear understanding of the One who knows all. He will not leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31). He has plans for us to prosper (Jeremiah 29). He is always with us (Matthew 28). We were created to glorify Him (Isaiah 43:7) and we glorify Him by trusting Him when we don’t understand, by obeying Him when we don’t see the reason, by acknowledging that He is God and His ways are higher and wiser than mine could ever be (Isaiah 55:9).

Thankful Thoughts

Nov24

Psalm 100:4 – Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. (HCSB)

I have so many things to be thankful for, not just this week with a day named Thanksgiving but every week. I am thankful for God’s love, thankful that He is merciful and forgiving; thankful that He sacrificed His Son for me, and thankful that He listens to my prayers. I am thankful for my Godly husband who encourages me, supports me, and loves me. I am thankful for our hardworking son and thankful for the daughter he brought us by marriage. I am thankful for our two amazing grandchildren who each have a special “Granny suggah spot” and I love them both a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck! I am thankful for my extended family, although they can be a little fudgy – sweet, somewhat nutty, and at times give me a stomachache – they are still mine and I love them. I am thankful for my two grandmothers, both strong women who lived out the love of God. I understand things as an adult that I took for granted as a child, and I appreciate more every day the lives they lived and the sacrifices they made. I am thankful for friends who laugh with me, cry with me, hold my hand, and hug my neck. I am thankful for people who get the humor in sarcasm. I am thankful for social media sites that allow me to have “old” friends in my life again. I am thankful for people who have a working knowledge of contractions (your and you’re are NOT interchangeable). I am thankful for my small group class at church and the way we love and support each other. I am thankful for my church family and feel privileged to be a part of such a great group of people. I am thankful for praying people in my life. I am thankful that I live in the United States of America. I am thankful for the house that is our home. I am thankful for warm temperatures, sandy toes by the ocean, and colorful sunsets. I am thankful that Jesus loves me and that I can freely know His love by reading my Bible and listening to ministers who speak God’s truth. Joseph B. Wirthlin summed it all up with “I give thanks to my Creator for this wonderful life where each of us has the opportunity to learn lessons we could not full comprehend by any other means.”

 

 

Worship Outside My Comfort Zone

Nov1

Philippians 2:3-4 – Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (NIV)

Colossians 3:23-24 – Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ. (HCSB)

My friend was telling me about her church having a “no volunteers Sunday” recently. Any position filled by a volunteer was left empty – no one directing traffic, no Sunday School teachers, no choir, no orchestra, no greeters, and no children’s workers. The reactions were less than encouraging. Some of the orchestra members actually left when they discovered they would not be playing because they saw no reason for them to stay. One family made a production of walking out during the service because they felt that worship involves routine and with the disruption of the routine came the disruption of worship. I find it interesting that disrupting the routine hinders worship but disrupting the service does not! My friend showed me some of the social media comments people had spent their Sunday afternoon composing. One young mother began her post with “I’m livid”. Her primary complaint dealt with having to care for her own child during the service. There were posts that were a little less angry but still quite open with complaints of the inconvenience. Reading the posts brought Philippians 2:3-4 to my mind. Obviously a few people had the attitude of “if I can’t be seen on stage, there’s no need for me to be here.” Clearly some people were looking to their own interests. There were others who acknowledged the inconveniences and the discomforts and went on to express much appreciation to the missing volunteers. One little boy stated to his mom “I like children’s church better than grown-up church!” There were negative social media posts but also posts from people admitting how they had taken the volunteer workers for granted prior to this but no more. Many people were awakened to the reality that volunteers are compulsory to making things run smoothly. Some people even decided to join the body of volunteers. Lord, I thank You for the people who allowed their hearts to be opened to the needs of others and ask You to touch the hearts of those who are only interested in their own selfish desires. Seeing the different reactions also caused me to look at my own reasons for being a volunteer. Lord, I pray that my service is for Your pleasure and not for the accolades of other people and my own vain conceit. I pray that my work will be done enthusiastically, putting others above myself. I pray that any task I undertake will be motivated by my love for You and done with such joy that it will become an act of worship. Help me to always be aware that my comfort is not the most important part of the worship experience.

Being Like A Child

Oct13

Matthew 18:3 – Then he said, “I tell all of you with certainty, unless you change and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom from heaven. (ISV)

 

My friends and I were sharing coffee and stories about our children because ….. well, that’s what moms do! One of my friends shared how she was left humbled by her five-year-old when they were preparing goodie bags for the daughter’s soccer team. As the mom filled each bag with a healthy snack, the daughter added a handmade cross. The mom told her that she shouldn’t be doing that, that not everyone would appreciate the addition and that some people might even be offended and angry about it. Her daughter ‘s reply was “Aren’t those the people who need the cross the most?” Another friend began to tell of a recent trip she had taken with her daughter. They were staying in a five star resort with all of the fanciness that goes along with each of those stars, but rather than being struck speechless by her surroundings, the little girl asked every person she saw if they knew Jesus. Once they were alone in their room, the mom sat her daughter down for a mother/daughter chat that began “You asking people if they know Jesus is a good thing, but “. Before she could finish her sentence, her daughter interrupted with “if you think it’s a good thing, why aren’t you doing it too?” Mark 8:38 tells us that being ashamed of God carries consequences. Most Christians would become quite defensive at being labeled “ashamed”, but aren’t we being ashamed when we are more concerned about other’s feelings than their future? Psalm 119:3 tells us not to be ashamed but to look at God’s commandments, and in Mark 16:15 Jesus commands us to tell the world. I’m not suggesting that we loudly proclaim that everyone we meet is a sinner bound for hell, but how would we behave if we saw them as lost in darkness and in need of light? Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (HCSB) News media reports when someone admits to being a Christian just before dying. What would it report if we lived that title every day?