Light Up My World

Sep21

Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. (HCSB)

1 John 1:5: Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him. (HCSB)

As I’m getting my coffee this morning, I am feeling like the woman described in Proverbs 31.  Well, not verse 25 if being clothed in dignity also means being dressed in a dignified manner since I’m still in my pajamas – but they are nice pajamas!  Since I am also getting coffee for my husband, I guess I can claim the verses that tell how she takes care of her household.  Trust me, a woman bearing coffee at this time of morning is definitely worth more than rubies to my husband!!  No, the verse I am feeling this morning is verse 15  “she gets up while it is still dark.”  It is the same time of morning that I always get out of bed, but the time of year means it is still dark. I’m not afraid of the dark, I just don’t like feeling my way around a dark bedroom, trying to grab onto anything I can to avoid the pain of encountering a bedpost or a chair leg.  Then I think of people who are feeling their way around a dark world everyday, trying to grab onto anything to avoid the pain of the moment.  They know the light of Genesis 1:16, but they don’t know the light of 1 John 1:5.  As a believer who walks in Your light, I’m asking “Why can’t the world see that?” and You send me an answer through Romans 10:14 “But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?” (HCSB).  I’m not a preacher but I walk in Your light, and Matthew 5:16 tells me that I need to let my light shine so that You will receive glory.  St. Francis of Assisi is quoted as saying “It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching”, and D.L. Moody once said “Out of one hundred men, one will read the Bible, the other ninety-nine will read the Christian.”   Lord, as I go out today into a world filled with darkness, help womanlightme to be a living example of the song we teach our children “this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”  Let it shine in my words; let it shine in my behavior; let it shine in my demeanor. Let it shine because I know the One who is light and who has no darkness in Him.

 

Before the Busyness

Sep14

Psalm 104:1-3 –  Praise the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.

Habakkuk 2:20 – The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

When I awaken this morning, the world is still dark, and the only sound is the early morning song of the waves crashing to the shore. They sound so loud, but I think that’s because they aren’t yet competing with the hustle and bustle of people busy relaxing on vacation. I decide to get out of bed and have my quiet time while the ocean and I are the only ones up and moving.  As I sit with my Bible and my cup of coffee, I open the balcony door to bring the sound I love so much just a little bit closer. Thank You, Lord for Your wondrous creation and for vacations so I can enjoy it!!  The opportunity to have my coffee and my prayer time on the beach is just too precious to pass up so …….. to the sand I go. But, as I ‘m walking and silently singing glory to Your name, I see the sun start to rise. Pink rays are filling the sky with light. When I was a beachsunrisechild, I thought that was You looking at Your creation. As an adult, I’m not sure that thought was incorrect. Verse 3 of Psalm 104 says that You lay the beams of Your upper chambers on the waters, and that’s what I am witness to this morning.  So often my prayer time is a time of me doing all the talking, but I know that this is more of a Psalm 46:10 moment — “be still and know that I am God”.  As I stop and watch pink rays become blue sky, I am overcome with Your presence and stand amazed.  Habakkuk 2:20 comes to my mind.  Lord, please help me to avoid all the busyness and noise that I allow to overtake Your calm and quiet voice.  Help me to be still and stand silent before You.

Ready or Not, Here It Comes

Sep11

James 1:2 – Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, (HCSB)

Joshua 1:9 – Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (HCSB)

 

Lord. I’m sitting here with my coffee and feeling a little melancholy.  As I walked through my neighborhood fall leavesthis morning, I saw the first yellow and red leaves of Autumn, and I’m not ready!!  I’m not ready for my flip flop wreath to leave my door.  I’m not ready for my flip flop flag to leave my yard.  I am definitely not ready for my flip flop shoes to leave my feet!  I plan to hold onto Summer with the tightest grip I can muster for as long as possible.   But, Autumn is calling out the warning that is given at the beginning of so many children’s games – “ready or not, here I come”.  I can refuse to face the changes as long as I want, but the only thing I will accomplish is having a silly wreath on my door, a silly flag in my yard, and some very cold and silly looking toes!  Lord, I think You must look at the silly people who live every day refusing to face the changes that occur with life, and it must make You melancholy.  Instead of trusting You to handle the changes, we pout and become petulant children.  Change is not easy for us – sometimes change is uncomfortable, sometimes it is heartbreaking, sometimes it just does not fit into what we had planned. People don’t really enjoy change.  In Ecclesiastes 3:1, Solomon tells us there is a time for everything; then he goes on in verses 2-8 to make a list of changes that take place in life.   I think of the great men of faith who had to face changes – difficult changes – changes that did not fit in at all with what they had planned.  Abraham had to make some difficult changes in his life.  “Difficult” doesn’t really cover the changes that Daniel and Joseph had in their lives!!  James 1: 2 says to consider it joy every time you face trials.  WHAT????  JOY???  When I think of joy I think it is synonymous with words like happiness and delight.  Do You really want me to be happy that I have trials? Are you telling me to be delighted when not only is my life not going as I’d planned, but I seem to be in a deep pit?  Your word tells me there is a difference between joy and personal pleasure.  Joy comes from a right relationship with You.  Joy is not situational; it’s a way of life.  Change can be frightening.  Change can be exciting.  We may be totally ready for a change or totally blindsided by a change.  But, ready or not, changes will come in our lives.  Life may change, but the Bible tells us that You never change.  Help me to always keep in the front of my mind and heart that my joy does not come from my situation, but joy in You gives me strength to face the changes that will come in life.

The Rest is Easy

Sep8

Hebrews 4:9-11 – “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. ” (NIV)

 

My friends and I are sitting around the table, coffee cups in hand, and the subject of resting comes up. One of my friends still has small children, so her resting time revolves around their schedules and usually comes only after they are in bed at night. One friend says she has no problem resting — sometimes she can rest all day, especially if a good book is involved!  There is a part of me that actually envies her. I have a difficult time resting. I have this overwhelming compulsion to always be doing something.  I guess it stems from being raised on a farm where there was always work that needed to be done and having a dad who liked for his children to be busy.  When I was growing up, you could sit to eat or to shell something from the garden, but sitting to read a book or watch a movie was synonymous with being lazy.  That idea has such deep roots in my psyche that some days I even struggle with the time spent sitting with You, Lord.  Resting isn’t a bad thing.  You even tell us to rest. In Mark 6:31, Jesus tells his disciples to find a quiet place and get some rest.  Merriam – Webster defines rest as freedom from activity or labor.  In Matthew 11: 28 You invite all who are weary and heavy-laden to come to You for rest.  Psalm 4:8 David says “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. “(ESV). Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying “he that can take rest is greater than he who can take cities.”  Lord, in the day-to-day busyness and stresses of life, I can get caught up with what I tell myself I need to accomplish in a day.  There’s an old hymn that says there is a place of quiet rest, a place to meet our Savior, a place of peace, near to the heart of God.  Acts 3:20 says that times of refreshing come from Your presence.  There are chores to do, meals to cook, errands to run, but, Lord, help me not to get so caught up in doing all of those things that I don’t take the time to come to You, to find my rest and peace in You.

Don’t Try This at Home!

Aug30

Deuteronomy 9:24 -You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you. (NIV)

 2 Chronicles 7:14 – if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (NIV)

danger-sign-1381198-mI am drinking my coffee this morning that I made in my new coffee maker.  I’m looking over the instruction booklet while I sip, and some of the comments make me laugh. I am instructed to use a cup to catch the hot liquid and not to try to catch it in my hands. Come on, really?  I have heard it said that if the company warns against doing it, that someone has done it. You really should not have to tell someone that hands aren’t the best containers for hot liquids.  The other day I saw a sign at a railroad crossing that said cars need to yield to oncoming trains.  Again………really?  Someone needed to be told that in a confrontation between a car and a train, the train will win and the car will definitely lose.  Why do people have to be told these things?  Why did You have to tell us not to murder other people?  Why did You need to tell us not to cheat on the spouse we vowed to stick with through good times and bad?  Why did You have to tell us not to take things that don’t belong to us and not to lie about people?  Why did You have to tell us to honor our parents, to worship and to rest?  Why did You have to preface the ten commandments with reminding people of Your holiness and Your power and protection (Exodus 20)?  Why are we still dealing with murder, sexual sin, and fear of our fellow man?  Why are we still dealing with parental abuse, churches that are dying from lack of interest, and families being destroyed because of workaholic parents?  Once again………REALLY?  Oh, Lord, we are sinful people living in a sinful world.  In Deuteronomy 9:24 Moses tells the people that they have been rebelling against You since he has known them.  Nehemiah 9:16-17 tells about the people becoming arrogant.  They not only refused to listen to You but also refused to remember Your wondrous care of them.  But verse 19 says it all — because of Your great compassion, You did not abandon them.  Lord, I feel that we are living in the Nehemiah 9:16-17 world, but I pray for Your compassion.  2 Chronicles 7:14 tells Your people to humble themselves (not be arrogant), to pray (listen), to turn from evil.  Thank You, Lord that You are willing to forgive our sinful ways.

Is the Church Only a Stage for Happiness?

Aug24

Psalm 55: 12-14 – Now it is not an enemy who insults me—
otherwise I could bear it; it is not a foe who rises up against me—otherwise I could hide from him.  But it is you, a man who is my peer, my companion and good friend! We used to have close fellowship; we walked with the crowd into the house of God. (HCSB)

Matthew 7:1-3 – “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with the judgment you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? (HCSB)

stage of happinessMy friends and I are sipping coffee and talking about this and that, life in general, and the burdens of our hearts.  We are all wives and moms, so “the burdens of our hearts” is actually just a phrase that means “our families”.  As I’m listening to my friends talk, I hear statements like “I don’t want anyone in our church family to know about this” or “I don’t talk about this in our Sunday School class”.  As they share, I hear voices and see faces from the past expressing the same concerns.  Lord, I am so sad!  When did the body of Christ start pounding with a gavel of judgment rather than protecting with the grace of Jesus?  When did the church stop being a sanctuary for the hurting and become only a stage for the happy?  When did abandonment and maliciousness replace allegiance and mercy?  When did the people who should be our protectors become our prosecutors?  Lord, I see in Psalm 55:12-14 that David had these same experiences.  It was his close friend and fellow church member who was attacking him.  We call ourselves “the body of Christ”, and we know that as with our human bodies, if one part hurts it affects the entire body. 1 Corinthians 12:26 tells us that is also true of the church body.  Matthew 7:3 asks us how we can see someone else’s sin so clearly but not see that we too have sin.  1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to build each other up with encouragement. Romans 3:23 says that none of us is without sin, and both Jesus (Matthew 7) and Paul (Romans 2) tell us that we have no right to judge.  We give testimony of grace. We ask for grace. We expect grace.  How can we then not extend grace?

A Celebration of a Different Sort

Aug19

Luke 7: 33-34 — For John the Baptist did not come eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ (HCSB)

 

Revelation 21:4 –He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (ESV)

 

2 Corinthians 1:3 – He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us (NLT)

 

Lord, I’m drinking my coffee this morning and thinking of my sweet friend.  Today is her birthday, but it’s not a happy birthday because it is the first one since her mom went to be with You.  They had a yearly tradition of eating birthday cake and playing board games, just the two of them.  Not only will she miss her mom this year, but she will miss what would have definitely been a night of mom-made-cake and board games and laughing until they cried!  But, this year there won’t be any mom-made-cake, no board games, and my friend’s tears won’t be from laughter.  Lord, I believe You and my friend’s mom are sitting together right now, talking about the day my friend was born, remembering past birthday celebrations, and sharing a laugh or two.  I have no Bible verses to back that up, but I do have verses that tell about how You liked to hang out with Your friends and enjoy good food (Luke 7:33-34).  Personally, I believe if the word “glutton” came into play, there had to be cake and ice cream involved!  Lord, You understand that my friend misses the joy and comfort that her mother provided.  Mothers give comfort by giving us hugs, kissing our booboos, and making us birthday cakes.  The memories of those times of comfort are precious and will forever give a warm feeling and a smile and even maybe a tear.  2 Corinthians 1:3 tells us that You give us comfort.  Just as mom would give us comfort, You give us comfort when we come to You, and it is comfort beyond even the greatest comfort that a mom can offer.  Lord, You never promised that we wouldn’t be sad, but You promised Your comfort when we are hurting.  As believers, we know that one day we will be reunited with our loved ones and we will be with You.  What a wonderful time it will be when it is the one true God who wipes our tears, tells us there will never again be booboos, and everyday will be a celebration!!

When Good News Isn’t As Good As We Hoped It Would Be

Aug4

Psalm 139:13: For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. (HCSB) 

Job 10:11: You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and tendons. (HCSB) 

Isaiah 41:10: So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (NIV)

 

The new medicine I am taking for my advanced osteoporosis is working!  My latest scan showed some thinning but no major digression as the past ones have shown ……but……and this is a major BUT ….. the marvelous miracle medicine that is having such a positive affect on my bones is having an adverse affect on my kidneys. Lord, I am shedding tears into my coffee this morning.  I am so very discouraged.  I have so many health issues, and it seems that each check-up brings more tests and each test brings a new issue. Sometimes I feel as if my health issues are like a child’s spinning top, going in circles but spinning all over the place, almost out of control.  Or like an avalanche, going downhill fast and picking up more speed and more problems along the way.  Lord, help me to remember that You created me.  Jeremiah 1:5 tells me that You knew me before You created me in the womb.  I can’t be sure of what is going to happen but You can.  Hermann Hesse is quoted as saying “We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.”  Father, You created me.  You knit me together.  You wove my bones together. In Jeremiah it says that Your thoughts about me are for good. Isaiah 41:10 tells me not to be afraid and not to get discouraged. You are God, and You will give me the strength I need to face my issues, health and otherwise. Just as David sang to you, I will also sing – Lord, You created me and I am wonderfully made.  My frame was not hidden from You before I was born, and it is not hidden from You now.  I will not be discouraged because You hold me up and give me strength.  As Peter proclaimed in 1 Peter 5:7, I will cast my cares upon you because You care for me

Soup, Macaroni, and a Clean Heart

Jul31

Psalm 51:10 – God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me (HCSB)

Matthew 5:8 – Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (NIV)

 

As I am sitting and waiting for my friend so that we can have that much anticipated cup (or two) of coffee, a woman walks by with a can of soup and a box of macaroni in her purse.  Seriously?  Of all the things a woman can carry in her purse – a can of soup and a box of macaroni?  That thought led me to thoughts of some of the unusual things I have stuffed in my purse.  I have carried books, electronics, diapers, shoes, purseand even snacks.  My aunt always carried a soft drink in her purse.  I have a friend who is afraid of the dark and therefore always has a flashlight …… and not a pin light either but one of those huge flashlights!  Depending on the age of the child, there can be anything in a mom’s purse from band-aids to dirty tissues to broken crayons and ALWAYS a sandwich bag of cereal!  Sometimes women will clean out their purses and find great treasures of missing jewelry, extra money, or even old food (thanks kids!).  We can let our purses get so filled with junk that there’s no room for the essentials.  Then I started thinking of how we can let our hearts get so filled with junk that there’s no room for essentials.  What would it be like, Lord, if I had a clean heart?  In Psalm 51:10, David asks for You to create for him a clean heart and a steadfast spirit.  A clean heart.  A heart without resentment.  A heart of love for the things You love.  A steadfast spirit. A spirit that is unchanging.  A spirit of living in Your plan.  Max Lucado is quoted as saying “You change your life by changing your heart.”  Ezekiel 36:26 says that You will give me a clean heart and put a new spirit in me.  Both Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 1: 7 tell me that the beginning of knowledge is in the reverence and respect of You. Lord, please give me a clean heart.  Give me a new spirit.  Change my life by changing my heart. I know that things would be much easier to find if my purse was clean.  I want it to be easier for people to find You because my heart is clean.

As I Walk Through the Valley

Jul25

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NLT)

 ” … a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” Proverbs 27:9b (MSG)

Lord, I’m sipping my coffee this morning while praising and thanking You for Your wonderful gift of friends.  Hebrews 13:2 says that sometimes we can be interacting with angels and be totally unaware.  Hebrews 1:14 says that angels are ministering spirits.  I believe that You also minister to us through friends, who are our own “special angels”!  Lord, You know that I have been dealing with some doubts and confusion.  I felt that I was following Your directions and traveling on a journey that You sent me on, but the road seems to have come to a dead end.  Was this really from You?  Okay, what now?  Should I keep going or should I quit?  Is there something I’m supposed to be doing but I’m missing it?  I know what I want to do next, but I don’t know how to get there.  Then I start listening as doubt starts to whisper, and insecurity begins to surface.  You know that insecurity and I have had a life long partnership, and the insecurity I feel over this situation begins to gather reinforcements from my past. Their favorite weapon of “you’re not good enough, smart enough, spiritual enough” begins to hit the mark. But, You sent me two “special angels” in the form of friends. I saw a quote recently that said “Friends are angels who lift our feet when our own wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”  Well, these two angels definitely did that! They gave me encouragement, they gave me hugs, and one even gave me attitude!  In Exodus 17, You sent two men to stand beside Moses and help him, and Lord, I thank You for sending these two women to stand beside me.  I’m not dealing with the type battle that Moses was overseeing, but I am dealing with a battle of my own.  Satan loves to make us all feel alone and isolated.  In those moments of vulnerability, he will fan the flames of our insecurity and doubt.  But thankfully God, You provide for us those friends who love us, support us, and encourage us to be what You desire us to be. Thank you for those friends and those moments!