Sometimes the old hymns say it best.  We did this in church on Sunday and it's definitely a favorite of mine.  Enjoy a few moments of God's presence while you listen.  God bless you dear readers!!

Decisions-Plans, from Mom

ALWAYS - make a plan

Before putting into action ask yourself:  "Is this in harmony with God's truths and Word?"  "Will it work under real conditions?"  "Is my attitude pleasing to God?"

Then submit it to God.  Pray about it--"Your will be done in Jesus name."  Wait on Him for His answer.

Joshua 1:8-9  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

This is a command from God.

From me:

Very short, very sweet and very to the point.  My belief is, that the more we are in God's Word, the more our plans will align with His will.  That is what the Lord is saying in Joshua.  Stick with me, know Me and My ways, and you will be okay.   It's hard to get it right apart from Him.  God also has a plan for us.  The more time we are spending with Him, the more our hearts, our lives and our plans will be synchronized with our Lord's and the more peace, joy and growth we will see in our day to day living.  And that is success in my eyes!!

Proverbs 12:5  The plans of the godly are just; the advice of the wicked is treacherous.

Proverbs 16:1  We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer.

Proverbs 16:3   Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 16:9  We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

Lord, help us to follow Your lead, to plan with Your glory in mind and to be open to Your changing anything that doesn't accomplish Your will in our lives.  Help us to hear Your voice in our prayer time, that we may know the way to go, that our plans, our steps will lead us closer to You and drawer others with us.

Unloving

The situation at work is becoming more and more preposterous and difficult to be a part of.  I have been in the same building working for the Post Office for going on 31 years and have never seen it more mismanaged and staffed by people, employees and supervisors alike, that just don't care about the job they do.  It's really quite sad to watch a building that was once one of the better performers go down hill.  We were a family there, far from perfect but yet still most wanted to do a good job and more of our supervisors than not knew what they were doing.

This being said, God is still calling me to be light and to love people.  Unfortunately my behavior doesn't always reflect God's loving ways.  My impatience and frustration get the better of me, (as I've chronicled here on numerous occasions).  This morning I pick up my "31 Days of Praise" devotional by Ruth Warren and the topic of today.......thanking God for those in our lives who bring us pain or displeasure.  Really !!!  Like I wanted to hear that.  LOL  This on top of listening to Joyce Meyer podcasts the last two mornings talking about loving people.  Hmmmm.  I am seeing a theme here. Love them Lord, I can barely be civil some days!!

But as the devotional reminds me, my heavenly Father loves me just as I am, faults, failures, shortcomings, bumps, bruises, stiff-necked and ornery.  Should I not do the same for others.  I have no rights to holding grudges, or looking down on people.

These days, I am trying to remember that each of these people is someone the Lord loves and someone that needs Him....and I do pray for those who get under my skin, that they would come to know Him and His love for them.  Sometimes I do better at that than others!!   I am so glad the Lord affirms and confirms His teaching to me.  I so want to be Jesus to others.

Thank You Lord for another lesson in sharing the love You have loved me with.  Help me in this area, as I so desperately need You to work in me.  Forgive me for my impatience and unkind heart. Let me see people as You do.  Remind me of my own guilt which You so readily forgave and still forgive.  And remind me that You love me just as I am, help me to love us the same way.  Thank You for putting people in my life that bother me.  They are there for Your purposes, and Your purpose, Your ways are always good and right.

Questions, Questions

This Tuesday's post is more about questions for me.  One question that I haven't fully figured out the answer for ( or more accurately, how to put the answer into practice) and one that I don't like the answer to.

As I read the August 12 devotional from "Jesus Calling" the usual sadness rose up in my heart.  It starts off with, "Come to Me when you are weak and weary."  The devotional goes on to say that we are not to despise our weaknesses, but to let them draw us closer to Jesus.  It calls this weariness and struggle the "gift of fragility" designed to allow our spirit to blossom. Sarah cautions us not to compare ourselves to others who seem to have abundant energy and skip through life.

You can see, if you are like me, someone who pains to put one foot in front of the other some days, someone who seemingly battles the same sins and shortcomings day after day, year after year, how this would cause a hollow ache in one's heart.  I'm sorry, but I really would like to be one of those people who have boundless energy and an upbeat take on life and the daily grind.

So here were my questions:  Lord, how do I rejoice in weakness?  How do I allow tiredness, impatience, physical pain, proclivity towards certain sins to be areas you work in?  What does this look like when walked out?  Is knowing You're helping me put one foot in front of the other supposed to be enough?  (I don't feel like it is, by the way).  I hate feeling like I do.  I hate the exhaustion and the negativity I am prone to.  How does the weakness of my words and my addictive behaviors fit in here?

More questions than answers it seems.  I am being brutally honest here.  And I mean no disrespect to the Lord.  I will, by choice trust Him in all of this.  And I did get one answer, quietly spoken to my heart..."Focus on Jesus with me and enjoy that."  Perhaps, that is all the answer I need.  All the answer any of us need.  I am working on this.  And probably will be for the rest of my life.  That's okay though, heaven and my Saviors arms await me at the end of this journey.  That is enough.

On to the second question.  I heard this on the radio (not for the first time, but it rang new in my heart and head).  "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?  Ugh, probably not. Some days, maybe, some days not so much.  And I really, really, really don't like that answer!!  I hope your answer is better than mine!!

I am praying that this helps someone today who, like me, has a tough time putting one foot in front of the other.  I'm thinking the response I was given by our Father is the key to answering both questions. If we just keep the fact that Jesus is with us always, and enjoy that fellowship with Him, all answers will be revealed and fleshed out in our daily living.  One day, one foot step, one heartbeat at a time.

Lord, thank You.  You know the difficulties each of us face, the things we can't seem to overcome or get right, the feelings and physical problems that drag us down.  And yet you tell us to allow and even welcome these weaknesses.  Lord, help us to see as You do and rely on You for each breath, each second.  Let us embrace Your presence and companionship each day, and let it be our focus.  I know, I can't do it without You.  Nor would I want to.  My desire is to glorify You.  I want to see trials as blessings in disguise.

2 Corinthians 12:8-9  Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time He said, "My gracious favor is all you need.  My power works best in your weakness."  So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me.  

Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.  

Matthew 11:28  Then Jesus said, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. 

Find Your Garden

Song of Solomon 6:3   I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. He pastures his flock among the lilies!

Blameless

Genesis 17:1  When Abram was 99 years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before me and be blameless. 

Okay, normally that statement would send me into a fit of hopelessness and recrimination.  But this time, God had set it all up.  He had lined up His visits to perfectly illustrate a teaching He wanted to hammer home in my thick head.

We've been studying the book of Genesis in Sunday morning Bible study.  So as I did this weeks chapter, I came across and got stuck on this verse.   Like I said, reading this verse has always brought thoughts of failure.  Always knowing I could never live up to "blameless."  I always associated that with perfection....ugh that horrible, lofty idea that we desire so much but in much frustration can never attain.  This time God intervened before hand through my daily "Jesus Calling" devotional.

A few days before I came to this verse in Genesis, the devotional had spoke on our Robe of Righteousness.  It told how we are to keep it on, even when it feels uncomfortable or we don't live up to wearing it.  When I read this verse, that little nugget of hope came right to mind.  I have a Robe of Righteousness, given to me by Jesus.  That is my blamelessness.

So the night before coming upon this passage of Scripture, I had an ugly failure at work....my mouth again (Lord, save me from my tongue!!).   And so, all the Lord's teaching on this came together to create a moment of understanding, of conviction instead of condemnation.  I was saddened by my cruel, hurtful words, but so thankful that I didn't have to kick off my Robe and trample it underfoot in my haste to guilt and penance.  No, I could come for forgiveness.  And remain in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  That is His design for me.  I cannot make up for my mistakes.  I can't pile up enough good deeds to earn my robe.  No, when I sin I must tighten my robe tighter around me, in faith.

Oh, and lets add to this lesson of the Lord's....that morning I read my little praise journal..."31 Days of Praise...and guess what area of worship it led me in, you guessed it..."in Christ I am righteous with His righteousness."   Isn't God awesome?  He leads us gently in the path of learning.  Convicting and comforting all at the same time.

Thank You Lord for the gift of righteousness given to us by and through Jesus.  Help us to keep those robes on and throw off guilt, condemnation and shame.  Renew our minds to live and walk in the righteousness You provided.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

High Place Reversal

What do you think of when you think of your spiritual high places?  Do times of great revelation, awesome worship, or being filled with peace and joy come to mind?  Do you consider these your mountain peaks, or your valleys?  I have always considered these special moments to be "mountain top" experiences.  We think of Peter, John and James being with Jesus atop the mount of transfiguration, seeing Jesus transformed and speaking with Moses and Elijah.  So we refer to those ethereal moments with the Lord as our high points.

I'd like to refer to another verse though.  As I was reading "Jesus Calling" the other morning, Sarah referenced Habakkuk 3:17-19 in that day's devotional.  And that verse really turned upside down what I thought of as the "high places."

Habakkuk 3:17-19   Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord!   I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!  The Sovereign Lord is my strength!  He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

So, what this verse is inferring is that my high places are actually my troubles?  The hard times that hurt, the struggles that wear me out, the battles that seem to come one right after the other?  That's crazy, right?  The times when I feel  God has forgotten me, left me alone in a landslide of trouble is not the valley but the mountain top?

It seems Habakkuk was telling us that if we stay close to God in these times (whether we feel Him or not) then He will make us to walk surefooted over our troubles.  They will become our stepping stones to spiritual growth and God's blessings.  Imagine, the hardest tests, the highest mountains of problems, being made a stepping stone on our pathway to eternity.  What a amazing, and different way to look at our journey with the Lord.

It makes sense though.  The valleys are sheltered, quiet places.  But the mountains....the climb is uphill, the terrain rocky and strenuous, sometimes hidden  by the trees.  The top buffeted by winds and harsh weather.  And so our lives parallel this natural landscape.  Our sweet times of peace and intimacy with the Lord, sheltered and safe.  But the hardships, days seeming like an uphill battle, only to get to the top, to be exposed to the harshest winds of difficulty, sorrows raining down.  But it is here, where we stick closest to our Lord and He transforms our heartache into our hallelujah.

I love when the Lord turns around my thinking like this.  It's just so cool!!  I don't know how long it will take this to really sink in for me.  And then to walk it out....but God is patient in working with us, so  I will trust Him.

If you are in these hard places now, I pray the Lord will help you to hold onto Him as He turns your high places into your greatest victories.

Lord, help us to see things as You do.  And help us to stay close to You, in the high places, the hard places, the valleys  of peace, in each and every second of our existence.  We may not see now, but we will see when You complete the work in us and through us.  Increase our faith.  Give us strength to hold on.  Thank You  for the hard times, they bring us closer to You.

I think of a poem I've loved for years from Florence White Willet:

I thank You for the bitter things

They've been a friend to grace,

They've driven me from the paths of ease

To storm the secret place. 

He Is Our Shield

Genesis 15:1   After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

    I am your shield,

    your very great reward.”

The Little Things

It's the little things, the details, the everyday and the ordinary.  These is what makes up most of our time here on earth.  And this is where a lot of frustration comes in.  It's one thing to understand that the Lord has this big plan for our lives, but getting through the technicality of living is what usually trips us up. For me, one of those things is my hair.  It is an endless source of frustration and woe for me.  Just one of the details that make up a day.  I've always wanted that great hair, easy to manage, you don't do much and it looks just fine....But that is definitely not my lot in life. My hair is fine, tends to frizz, and just plain doesn't stay how I want it no matter how much I fuss with it.  And we won't even go into the money spent over the years on styling products that don't do a darn thing!!

Now, I know this is not earth shattering.   I know there is no spiritual, eternal issues hanging in the balance of this problem of mine.  But it is a daily vexation that I seem to fight with the Lord about each time I try to manage that stuff growing out of the top of my head!!

Okay, on to the God visit part of this discourse.   I finally got out for a run yesterday (yaaay for that) and as usual I was listening to a Joyce Meyer podcast entitled "Intimacy With God."  In it she was saying that being intimate with God meant holding nothing back, inviting Him in to every area, each small detail of our lives.  She went on to tell a story of being on a bowling league.  She was having a not so great game when she felt God prompt her to ask for His help.  Her inner dialogue was something like.."well I can't ask for help with bowling, it's not spiritual...."  But she still felt His prompting and went ahead and asked...and her game improved.

So as I was listening to this, I started down that well worn "thought road" in my head...well I am always frustrated with my hair, why don't You help with that?"  And immediately, I mean before I even finished the thought, Joyce says, (and I can't remember the exact words), "Why don't you ask for help with your hair and stop being angry?"   Wow!!  Honestly, it's not so much about the asking, it's about the timing of the statement that shocked and uplifted me.  And the "stop being angry" part as well.  I wrote about my conversations with Lord being more grumbling and complaining than talking with Him on Tuesday...and this includes my hair conversations over the years as well.  So the "stop being angry" part really through me for a loop.  

Again, I know this hair thing is not a life altering concern.  But the attitude in which I approach it and other irritations, situations (both large and small) in my life is.  I can either approach them with  faith, peace, trust and respectfully speak to the Lord about each area of my life...or I can come at them with frustration, and anger, whining and complaining the whole way through my day.  Hmmm, seems like a no brainer there!!

Lord, help me with my day. The world You created is extremely detailed, specific and wonderful...so I know the small stuff is important to You.  So I bring each element of today to You.  Lord, I want to stop complaining and start a new way of staying connected with You.  I invite You into my day. Help me to be respectful when I speak with You.  Forgive me for not being so all along.  I love You Lord. Please help me with my hair and everything else I need to do today...Let each act, each word, each thought bring glory to Your name.

Matthew 10:29-30  Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing.  And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.  So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to Him than a whole flock of sparrows.  

Instruction

God's instruction to me two days ago:  "Look for answered prayer."

That's it.  Short and sweet...He wants us on the look out for prayers that He answers.  Doesn't mean they will be answered in the way we think best.....but still they are answered.

Lord, open our eyes!!

Jesus With Me

One of my prayers, one of the deepest desires of my heart is to feel and sense the Lord's presence with me every minute of every day, to not forget He is there.  I pray that often...and all too often feel as if this longing goes unfulfilled.  But the Lord impressed something on my heart a couple of days ago, spun something around so I could see it clearly.  It's not that I don't sense Him with me, it's what I do with that connection, how I treat it that's the problem.  I am aware of His presence, it's that I choose not to enjoy it because I am too busy murmuring against life.

The problem lies with the fact that my usual dialog with the Lord consists of complaining or venting my frustrations with various problems, struggles and annoyances throughout the day....no wonder I sense no peace and companionship!  WOW moment!!

All this time, I've been reading devotionals and books that talk about gratitude being the open door to fellowship with the Lord.  I've agreed and made a little progress, only to fall back to form, never realizing that this attitude was the filter through which I sense God with me.  The peace and joy of His nearness alludes me because my side of the connection is covered in discord.

Complaining destroys so much.  Even if it is only complaining to oneself or to the Lord.  It is also displeasing to Him.  I've lost so much by this loathsome habit.

Lord, thank You for correction.  Please help me to lay down this proclivity for grumbling and murmuring.  Help me open the floodgates of intimacy with You, nothing standing in the way of sweet fellowship together.