Month: August 2022

Relationship

1 Corinthians 10:13-14 says: No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

When Jesus said, “come to me”, He invited you into a relationship with Him. When you accepted what Christ did on the cross for you, you entered into a personal relationship with Him. He gave you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! He began a life-long process of molding and shaping you for His service.

Relationships are very important because the relationships you have had, and the ones you have now, have a significant impact upon the rest of your life. A relationship with God allows you to experience freedom and peace. With Him, you will discover the meaning and purpose for your life. Spending time with God every day strengthens your relationship with Him which changes you and the choices you make. These positive changes allow you to have stronger, more loving, and more meaningful relationships with others. Reflect on this: love is a choice followed by action; not a feeling that changes like the wind.

Spend time listening to God daily. He speaks to us through His creation, His word, His church, prayer and our life experiences. Spending time with God each day allows us to discovery joy; that confident unchanging inner peace that is not dependent upon our circumstances but entirely upon God’s presence in our life. Joy changes how we handle the storms of life.

John 8:31-32 says: If you abide in my word you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. His word, the bible, reveals God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He teaches us how to live and how to love. Read your bible daily then spend time thinking about what He is saying to you. Pray throughout the day every day. When you pray, you speak to God. This works any time every day because He is always with you. Be faithful in prayer. Be sure to set aside a dedicated time and place to pray daily. Then, listen as God speaks to you through His creation, the bible, other believers and your life experiences. Spend time thinking about how God is always with you, that He knows your needs and has the power to mold and shape you. Thank Him for loving you. We are to worship God by living a life worthy of the calling we have received. Offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Make a choice and follow it up with action as you use your gifts and talents to love and serve others with kindness; not expecting anything in return.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.

Faith

Romans 1:20 says: For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

I have studied and worked with electricity most of my life. People like me who believe electricity is real understand the power it has because they see the work it can perform. I cannot see electricity flowing on a wire, but I remain very cautious around live wires.

The first part of Hebrews 11:1 says: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. I am sure and certain children should not play around or with electrical power outlets! Are you?

Faith can be described as putting your full trust and reliance in something or someone; even in what we do not see. People with faith are sure and certain. We know things break and people, even our friends, can let us down. I am sure and certain God is always with me. No matter when or where I am, He gives me strength according to His will. Philippians 4:13 says: I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

My hope is in the living God. I am confident He will fulfill His purpose for me. Please read 1 Peter 1:3-9 today.

It’s Not a Choice

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you”. Exodus 20:12

Hmmm…truly one of God’s Top Ten. Top five , even. I love lists-I’m convinced that I’d never get anything done if it wasn’t on a list.

What does it even mean to honor someone? Honoring someone means something like holding that person in high regard; to cherish. Sadly, ‘honor’, ‘high regard’, and ‘cherish’ aren’t words Americans tend to use in our everyday speech. I wonder why.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds me that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful for training in righteousness. Ouch! ‘training in righteousness’-there’s a figure of speech I almost never think about! So, I guess Timothy is telling me that I can’t simply disregard Exodus because it seems physically or emotionally difficult.

It’s no wonder we find it so hard to honor our parents (and all people in positions of authority, by the way). But that’s the thing about Scripture, God doesn’t ask us to like it, or even to actually understand every word of it. However, as Christians, we are expected to submit to God’s authority in our lives, and to lean on the power of the Holy Spirit to give us strength when we don’t have the will.

Busyness with my career, my family, my friends, my pets, my vacations, my tv shows, my volunteer activities, my need to rest and relax. These are all great reasons not to hold placing my mother’s needs into a place of high importance. Or at least they sound like it. To me. To my selfish, deaf, human ears. But when I hold them up against God’s Word, they all fade pretty quickly. And sink in the quicksand I so often find myself stuck in.

So today, I choose to cherish my mother. I’m going to brush her hair because I know she loves it. I’m going to paint her fingernails because she has beautiful hands. I’m going to place her in a wheelchair and take her outside to see the birds, and hopefully a bunny. I’m going to sing old hymns and patriotic songs out loud with her because she loves the old songs and she remembers the words. I’m going to ask her to tell me about her parents and what it was like growing up on a farm. And I’m going to bring her ice cream because we all need ice cream.

What am I going to chose tomorrow? Well, tomorrow is not here yet, and there is that whole thing about tomorrow having troubles of it’s own…so today I will follow Jesus with a grateful heart, and I’ll leave tomorrow to itself until then.

Who are you cherishing today?