September 9, 2016

I have a confession to make.   For the past two or three weeks I have been totally distracted by the busyness of life.   Shame on me!   I have been very busy at work.   I have been very busy helping my aging mom.   I have been very busy being "Grammy".   I have been very busy studying for Bible study and facilitating small groups.   I have been very busy being a farm wife and finding time to ride my horse.    I have been very busy!  It seems that I have been so busy I have missed some really big blessings that God sent my way.  Ouch!   How do I allow myself to get on that merry-go-round of life?   Have you ever taken that ride?    It is so easy to get sucked into the "fill every moment" mindset.   Sometimes that busy schedule can't be helped.    For example, when we have date deadlines at work we have to push through that busy time.    When illness or accident strike we may have to pick up the pieces for someone else as they recuperate, and busyness sets in.   But too often we make choices that create a full calendar.   I am terrible at saying no to anyone so find myself overextended from time to time. Other days I just do not plan my time very efficiently then find that they day is over but my list is not.  What about procrastination?  Do you ever put things off until the last minutes?    That often creates a hardship for me when a deadline suddenly becomes a crisis.  But the very worst thing about this whole nonsense is that my busyness takes my away from my relationship with our Lord and Savior.  When I can't find a moment to squeeze in a scripture lesson or my prayers are on the fly as I blow past vehicles on the interstate, I am TOO BUSY!   Just this evening I was reminded of the story of Mary and Martha as I read my Bible.   I am certain that God gave me this scripture because he knows I need to settle down and change my focus to look him straight in the face,   Luke 10:40-42 reads, "But Martha was distracted with much serving.  And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Tell her to help me."  But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.   Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."    Beloved, I want to be like Mary.   I want to sit at the feet of Jesus and focus totally on His face.   Lord, help me to make that happen!
      

September 8, 2016

"God is not unfair.  He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to your fellow Christians."    Hebrews 6:10 (TEV)  This scripture should give us reason to smile as we are promised that God knows and will remember what we are doing on this earth to serve Him.  Hebrews reminds us that as we are serving our fellow man on his earth, we are serving God.  He sees us doing His work and He is pleased with His servants.   If we ever needed a reason to work at serving others this would be it!  The scripture states that God is not unfair.  Therefore, I am certain that just as He is pleased and will reward us when we serve His people, He also must be sad and discipline us when we fall short of that role of servant.  Find a way to do God's work for someone this week.    

September 7, 2016

Micah 6:8 reads "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God."  This verse is rich in truth about how we ought to behave as followers of Christ but right not I am focusing on the "walk humbly with your God" piece.   I feel like I have strayed a bit in my communion with our Father and I desire to make that right with Him right now.    I have certainly been giving God my attention and my prayers but I have not WALKED with Him; at least not the way one walks with someone that they care about and want to enjoy.  Have you ever just enjoyed the company of a friend or loved one during a quiet walk?   That can be a time when you draw closer to one another; a time for real meaningful discussion, or maybe a bit of soul searching.    Friends, that is what God desires from us as we are called to "walk humbly with our God".   It is a time to admit our failures and seek forgiveness.   It is a time to ask for direction and daydream about possibilities.   It is a time to worship our King and praise Him for all.  I desire that!   I so need that!   My goal for the next week is to carve out time to humbly and deliberately walk on the presence of Father God and renew my relationship with him.   Want to come along?

September 6, 2016

Today I spent much of my day cleaning out my flower beds getting things ready for fall.   Everything  was so beautiful all summer.   I had something blooming from early May through August but much of the flower bed is now looking tired and brown.   It is time to cut everything back and wait till spring when God will work His magic once again.   Do you ever feel like you are faded and wilted?   Do you ever need to be pruned back to wait for God's hand to bring you back to life?   I have felt that way - probably more often than I would like to admit!  But I know that our God is so much bigger than my season of "brown".     If God desires to revive the flowers every spring so that we can enjoy their beauty, how much more will He revive us so that we might praise and worship Him.   God gives us so many promises in His word.    He has an answer for everything we could possibly experience and He promises unconditional love to us.  Isaiah 40:8 reminds us that "the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."    Thank you, God!    

September 5, 2016

Jeremiah 29:12-13 "Then you will call upon me 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."  (NIV)  This is one treasure that I have found this weekend while studying the scriptures.  I love that our Father knows that we will call upon His name.   I love that He knows that we will pray to Him and He promises to listen.   There is much comfort in knowing that we do not have to do this alone!   Might God build a safety net for us and set up a network that we can use anytime, anyplace.   We only have to turn our faces to Him and pray and He will hear and respond.   Thank you Father!   But there is more.    God knows that we will seek Him and He wants to be found.   He has filled us with the desire to seek Him and He is making himself available to us.   It is so clear to me that our Father loves us and wants to be in our company.    I feel like I have been placed on a very special guest list.    This is one invitation I do not want to miss!  

September 2, 2016

I just got home from a spiritual growth planning meeting at our church, and boy am I excited!   It is so much fun to brainstorm with others about how we can support spiritual growth in our church while we work hard to glorify God.    I love hearing "out of the box", creative ideas about ways that we can be more intentional about learning scripture and nurturing youth and new believers.  I love that even "seasoned Christians" have so much to learn and experience, and we can all learn from each other by the grace of our Lord and Savior.   What great things we have coming up!   But in the midst of all this hype and discussion we must be so careful to stay mindful of what God wants for our church and our people.   Proverb 19:21 reads, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."   Father God, show us how to move forward.   Slow us down and give us the knowledge to know what to do and how to do it in your name.  Thank you God for giving us purpose and direction.        

September 1, 2016

Just recently I heard someone discussing that he could not go to church because it was so full of righteous, judgemental, Christians.  At first I was a bit rankled about that statement, until I  relaxed a little bit and began to wonder why this gentleman believed such a thing.   I came to realize, as I peered into some of the churches I have attended over the years, that it sure appeared that the folks sitting primly in the pews did have it all together.    Friends, I think sometimes we put on face fronts that give people the idea that we are, or we think we are, without strife and sin in our lives.  We go to church all dressed up and sing pretty songs and smile and tell everyone we are fine.  We tsk tsk when a sister in Christ reveals how her "counsin on her mother's side really made a mess of things".  Then we promise to pray for those who are making bad choices and drop a few dollars in the special collection plate to support some mission or another.   Seldom do we reveal our hurts, diappointments, and shortcomings.    No wonder when an outsider looks in they don't want any part of us.   We don't share with folks that we are sinners in a fallen world,just like them!   We don't want to put ourselves on the same plain as one who has a police record or an addiciton.   Boy aare we fakes!    Jesus said we are all sinners in need of His grace and He loves us anyway!   Our churches are full of those who are messed up ion any number of ways and we need to be transparent to those looking in from outside the doors of our church.   Luke 5:31-32 records "And Jesus anwsered them , "Those we are well have no need of a physician but those we are sick.   I have not come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance." (ESV)    Let's accept and acknowledge our sin and lean into Jesus for his healing.  Then, let's invite others to join us!