Category Archives: Wisdom & Guidance

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May 7, 2015

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Church & Worship, Holidays & Holy Days, Obedience, Prayer, Wisdom & Guidance

DO THE WAVE

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Listen to Your servant’s prayer and his petition, Lord my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant prays before You today, [1 Kings 8:28 (HCSB)]

In 2008, 157,574 fans at the Bristol Motor Speedway participated in the world’s largest audience wave. Successive groups of spectators briefly stood, yelled as they raised their arms and then quickly returned to their seats. The Bristol wave traveled around the stadium in a continuous circuit four times for a distance of two miles. Today, we have an opportunity to participate in a much larger wave: a wave of prayer. The first Thursday of May is designated as the National Day of Prayer. At noon, the same prayer will be simultaneously offered throughout our nation. Unlike an audience wave, there’s no need to be in a stadium or arena. You can pray wherever you happen to be. Can you imagine how many hundreds of thousands could participate in this wave of prayer that will stretch over 2,800 miles across just the continental U.S? Add Hawaii and that wave of prayer would travel about 5,000 miles! Today at noon, please join thousands of others and offer this prayer for our nation.

[2015 National Prayer by Dr. Jack Graham]

 Heavenly Father,

We come to You in the Name that is above every name—Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Our hearts cry out to You. Knowing that You are a prayer-answering, faithful God—the One we trust in times like these—we ask that You renew our spirits, revive our churches, and heal our land.

We repent of our sins and ask for Your grace and power to save us. Hear our cry, oh God, and pour out Your Spirit upon us that we may walk in obedience to Your Word. We are desperate for Your tender mercies. We are broken and humbled before You. Forgive us, and in the power of Your great love, lift us up to live in Your righteousness.

We pray for our beloved nation. May we repent and return to You and be a light to the nations. And we pray for our leaders and ask that You give them wisdom and faith to follow You. Preserve and protect us, for You are our refuge and only hope. Deliver us from all fears except to fear You, and may we courageously stand in the Truth that sets us free.

We pray with expectant faith and grateful hearts. In Jesus’ name, our Savior. Amen.

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May 6, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Family, Friends & Fellowship, God's Grace & Love, Love & Works, Wisdom & Guidance

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. [Philippians 4:8 (MSG)]

5-16-15mottled duck - IW583-cropwebI remember playing a game called “What’s Wrong with this Picture?” with my children when they got their Highlights™ magazine. We’d look at a drawing and try to spot all of the weird and wacky things that didn’t belong in the picture. Sometimes, we continue to play that game as adults but, instead of looking for oddities, we simply seek out everything that seems wrong.

As I recover from my foot surgery, I have to remain off my feet as much as possible. That means giving up all sorts of domestic duties to my patient and loving husband. This reversal of roles has required an attitude adjustment on both our parts. Although he is at my beck and call, I know better than to abuse my role as patient (especially since he will soon have surgery and our roles will be reversed!)

This morning, I looked around the house and saw all sorts of things “wrong.” Fortunately, before I opened my mouth, I pondered the meaning of “wrong.” Certain things like adultery, theft and murder are clearly wrong. Certain things, like faithfulness, tithing, and compassion are clearly right. There are, however, a great many things that are neither exactly right nor wrong and they’re certainly not worth getting one’s undies in a bunch. These things include a tablecloth that is askew, dust on the tables, and crumbs on the countertop. There are even more things that are simply “wrong” because I have arbitrarily defined what is “right.” While my “right” includes towels that are folded in thirds, throw pillows always attractively arranged on the bed, and smoothies made with almonds and flaxseed, not everyone agrees!

We must  accept the disappointing truth that we are far from perfect. Moreover, the world around us isn’t perfect and, in spite of our best efforts, it’s never going to be. Finally, we need to remember it’s likely our definition of “perfect” or even “correct” has little to do with anyone else’s definitions of those words.

Jesus was the only perfect person and something tells me that things like less than stellar housekeeping or food not prepared his favorite way didn’t concern him. Unlike the Pharisees who spent much of their time deciding what was “wrong,” He was much more concerned with issues like love, compassion, healing, truth, righteousness and salvation. When He saw what was undoubtedly wrong, like the money changers at the temple, He reacted. When He saw the woman at the well, however, He didn’t see a woman who was wrong; He lovingly saw a soul to be saved and offered love and forgiveness.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for those who help us in our daily walk and offer their loving care. Give us appreciative hearts and voices. Stop us when we are tempted to complain, whine, or correct what truly doesn’t need correction. Give us the eyes and heart of Jesus and the discernment to know what is truly important in life.

A happy home is one in which each spouse grants the possibility that the other may be right, though neither believes it. [Don Fraser]

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. [Ephesians 5:1-2 (MSG)]

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April 27, 2015

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God's Plan, Holy Spirit, Obedience, Prayer, Wisdom & Guidance

DO YOU NEED A HEARING AID?

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Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! [Hebrews 12:25 (NLT)]

As we’ve aged, many of us have increasing difficulty with hearing, especially in a noisy room. Some of us, no matter how good our hearing, have a problem with listening. More of us, however, even when we hear clearly and listen carefully, have difficulty understanding and heeding what has been said. Since we expect God to listen to us, perhaps it would be a wise idea to do a better job of listening to Him.

Lord, quiet our lives so we hear your voice, focus our thoughts so that we listen to your words, let your Holy Spirit guide us so that we understand and heed your message.

Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. [Isaiah 30:21 (NLT)]

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April 24, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Wisdom & Guidance

KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT

Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. [Psalm 141:3 (NLT)]

P1100857webIn yesterday’s “Frank and Ernest” comic strip by Thaves, while admiring a large fish mounted up on the wall, one of the men says, “He wouldn’t be up there if he had just kept his mouth shut.” Wiser words couldn’t be said! If only I’d seen the comic a day earlier when a woman I’d just met earnestly asked me how old I thought she was. She was quite attractive and I assured her she didn’t look old to me, but she insisted I give her my estimate. Responding to that question is akin to answering, “Honey, do these pants make me look fat?” There just isn’t a good answer. I’m a woman; I know better than to fall into that trap (or bite that lure) but, foolishly, I opened my mouth. Looking about my children’s ages and having a very responsible job, I guessed her to be about forty-five (I actually thought she might be as old as fifty). Big mistake; she is only thirty-eight and not approaching forty gracefully! I spent the rest of my time reassuring her how good she looks (which she does) and that she will age beautifully. Let’s face it: by the time I left, I wished I’d never opened my mouth at all! “Open mouth and insert foot” – good heavens, I inserted both feet plus an arm!

Sometimes, we’re like the fish that gets caught; we take the bait. Heavenly Father, please slap your hand over our mouths and even seal them with duct tape, if necessary, whenever any of us are foolish enough to consider speaking when it is best to leave things unsaid! Show us how to tactfully and honesty avoid uttering words that might inadvertently hurt someone even though we have only good intentions in our hearts.

If you keep your mouth shut you will never put your foot in it. [Austin O’Malley]

Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. [Dr. Seuss]

Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent. [Proverbs 17:28 (NLT)]

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April 10, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Church & Worship, Joy, Knowing Him, Trusting God, Wisdom & Guidance

DIG INTO GOD

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People brought babies to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. “Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” [Luke 18:15-17 (MSG)]

Earlier this year, our son’s family visited us with their 20-month old son and his three-year old sister. I recently looked through photos from their visit and recalled how entertaining it was to watch the children play. They enjoyed every new thing encountered and were determined to learn new skills. Whether it was climbing the monkey bars, dressing the dolls, riding the trike, pushing the doll stroller, frosting cupcakes, setting the table, making sand castles, being chased by waves, or playing in the pool, they attacked each activity earnestly. Of course, there were moments of frustration and a few tears, but the little guys never abandoned their exploration of the world around them. The youngest even figured out how the locks on the lanai doors worked; fortunately, the doors were too heavy to open, but he tried anyway. Nothing deterred the children’s quest for knowledge. Interested in everything around them, there was never a moment of boredom; they eagerly approached each day as an adventure waiting to happen.

I wondered why we adults are so easily bored, prone to discouragement and world-weary. How many times have we said “Been there, done that,” “Tried it, didn’t like it,” “Same old, same old” or something similar? Unfortunately, sometimes that attitude carries over into our faith and church life. We often blame our pastors, worship team, choice of music, organist, band or choir when our relationship with God wanes. If we’re missing out on having glory moments with the Lord, it’s not their fault. We’re the ones responsible for keeping our faith alive and interesting, not them. If my faith is lifeless, if my worship experience lackluster, if my prayer life dull, or my Bible study boring, I have no one to blame but myself and my attitude. A relationship with God is never unexciting or monotonous. We, however, have to do our part to keep it going; we need to approach God with the eagerness of a child.

I didn’t have to prod my grandchildren to discover the world around them; they were keen to learn. Hungry for everything that life has to offer, they eagerly met each day with enthusiasm. If we crave those glory moments with our Lord, if we’re hungry for a deeper faith, if we have an appetite for the Holy Spirit, we need to bring that same childlike enthusiasm to God’s table. It’s not our fellow Christians’ job to spoon feed us and it certainly isn’t God’s. Everything we need is right in front of us: worship and serving opportunities, Bibles and Bible study, prayer, praise music, and our church family. We, however, need to pick up our spoons and dig in zealously the way a child does a bowl of ice cream! Better yet, get out a shovel and whole-heartedly dig in the way a child does when digging sand castles at the beach! Every day with God is truly an adventure waiting to happen; we just need to dig in!

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. [Matthew 5:6 (MSG)]

God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love. [Ephesians 4:15-16 (MSG)]

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March 31, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Fear & Doubt, Trusting God, Wisdom & Guidance

DEFEATED BEFORE EVEN TRYING

But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” [Numbers 13:30-31 (NLT)]

Twelves scouts went to explore the land of Canaan; ten saw only the giants and two, while seeing the giants, also saw a land flowing with milk and honey. Ten men saw only the challenges while two saw the rewards. Ten men saw the glass half empty; two saw it half full. Ten saw the clouds, and two saw the silver lining.

I had a writing project due but all I could see was what I perceived to be an insurmountable obstacle in writing it. The obstacle: other people were involved in the event about which I thought I needed to write, people who probably wouldn’t be pleased to see the story in print. I saw only the giants in my way and, as a result, didn’t start on the project. Writer’s block had me defeated before even trying to write. In a chance conversation with a friend, I confided my dilemma. “Have you asked?” was her simple reply. “They’ll say no!” was mine. But would they? Taking her words to heart, I asked God for guidance and then shot off an email with my request to write about this specific subject.

Once I’d taken this small step of asking instead of assuming and, more important, trusting my dilemma to God, my giant didn’t seem so big. Confident that, if God wanted this story told, He would give me the words, I stepped out in faith and started writing to see where God would lead me. Instead of conceding defeat because of the obstacle in my path, God showed me a way to step around it. By the time my first draft was complete, I’d written it in such a way that everyone’s privacy was respected and no would be embarrassed, hurt or offended.

Like the Israelites, we often see predicaments instead of prospects: the chance of failure rather than success. I saw defeat before I’d started and I nearly gave up without even trying. The Israelites wanted their problems solved and the giants defeated before stepping out in faith and trusting that God would find a way. Because of their lack of faith, only Caleb and Joshua, the two scouts who believed, lived to set foot in Canaan over forty years later. Fortunately, I finally heeded God’s command to be neither afraid nor discouraged and my project was completed (and in way less than forty years!)

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. [Joshua 1:9 (NLT)]