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April 23, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Family, Friends & Fellowship, God's Plan, Love & Works

GOING TO WORK

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. [Romans 12:1 (MSG)]

When people asked me what I did, I’d often reply, “I’m just a homemaker.” But we’re never just a housewife or only a bus driver or merely a waiter. Do we ever demean the work God has given us simply because it lacks a large paycheck or status? Even those of us who are retired or unemployed have been given valuable work to do; we’re just no longer paid to do it. The work we do never defines us; how we do that work, however, does!

3-16-15-cropRWEBAll work is honorable, whether we’re saving lives as EMTs or wiping children’s bottoms and noses, designing skyscrapers or laying tile, teaching the ABC’s or preaching the gospel. There’s as much dignity in packing groceries as in managing the grocery store, in bussing tables as in being a gourmet chef, and in sweeping an auditorium as in conducting a symphony orchestra. Our work has importance whether we oversee the finances of a multi-million dollar corporation or manage to feed a family of five on a tight budget, whether we appease irate customers or calm a toddler in the midst of a melt-down, and if we teach calculus or help fifth graders understand fractions. To God, the pilot of a 747 is no more important than the driver of a mini-van doing car-pool duty. The song offered by a diva in a concert hall is no more beautiful to Him than the humming of a maid as she mops floors. Our work is not who we are; it is simply what we do. Work does more than bring a paycheck; our work is an offering to God. As His servants, we want to give Him our best. After all, He offers the greatest benefit package known to man!

Bless the work of our hands, O Lord. Guide us so that we are useful and industrious and give us joyful hearts as we labor.

And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do! [Psalm 90:17 (MSG)]

(Don’t worry! The photo is from a simulated rescue at a Swiss street fair.)

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April 22, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, Challenges & Difficulty, Peace of God, Prayer, Today: Make it Count

IT’S BEEN ONE OF THOSE DAYS!

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice! … Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 4:4,6-7 (NLT)]

4-22-15rupside down- CSS3257V-vertwebYesterday was a day of frustrations and I had difficulty keeping things in perspective. Starting at 5:00 AM, my perfectly planned day turned upside down. After discontinuing personally emailing my messages to sixty people and reassuring all of my readers they would continue to receive these daily devotions if they signed up to receive them directly from WordPress, they didn’t (at least not for several hours)! After waiting for an answer from “Help” and never getting one, I eventually figured out what to do. Needless to say, I was not a happy blogger!

While your project may not be writing a blog and you may not have encountered unexplained “technical difficulties,” we’ve all had those days when nothing, absolutely nothing, goes right. You read the directions three times and they still make no sense, you wait all day for the cable man who never shows up, you realize an essential ingredient for dinner is missing minutes before the guests arrive, the new sweater with the directions “lay flat to dry” gets tossed in the dryer, you fruitlessly search all day for the receipt you need for the accountant, you forget the 20% off coupon when shopping, you burn the brownies for that night’s meeting, you get stuck in traffic when you’re already late, there’s a plumbing disaster in the bathroom, mud gets tracked onto the new carpet, the tire is flat, your phone goes dead in the middle of an important call, you delete rather than save, or the traffic cop doesn’t believe in giving you “five miles over.” It’s days like these, filled with relatively small annoyances and frustrations, that can so easily rob of us peace and joy.

Paul was in chains in a Roman prison and facing the very real possibility of execution. That certainly makes for a bad day and he had every reason to be depressed and discouraged. Yet Paul told the church at Philippi to rejoice. Moreover, he seems downright contented, peaceful and filled with thanks. If Paul could find joy in the direst of circumstances, why should we allow the unimportant aggravations of everyday life ruin our day and rob us of peace?

I pray that today will not be another “one of those days” for you or me. If it is, however, I pray that we, like Paul, will find peace, serenity and strength in the power of Jesus Christ.

We think we know what will make us happy. Seldom do we readily accept that painful moments are often the price tags for peaceful, happy times. Nor do we appreciate that happiness lives within each of us; never is it intrinsic to the events we experience. [From “Each Day a New Beginning” by Karen Casey]

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)]

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April 21, 2015

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Bible Stories, Forgiveness, God's Grace & Love, Obedience

UNCONDITIONAL FORGIVENESS

If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. [Leviticus 25:35-37 (NIV)]

If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest. [Exodus 22:25 (NIV)]

birdsfoot trefoil--LkGenWI14webIn the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to give help to one another freely and not to expect a profit from their assistance. The purpose of a loan was to help a person in need, not to increase one’s wealth. Avarice, of course, killed that concept. People being people, greediness quickly replaced concern when loans were made. Although the lender was to give out of love not out of hope of gain, rates of interest became exorbitant and poor debtors became helpless. Sound familiar?

In the New Testament, debtors and creditors were often used to illustrate the concept of forgiveness of sins. Sin is a debt that must be paid or canceled before man can be free. Jesus taught us to ask God to forgive our debts (or trespasses) as we forgive the debts (or trespasses) against us. Sometimes, however, we want something more before we’ll forgive. Often, as a condition of forgiveness, we want an apology from the offender; we may want him or her to eat some “humble pie” or we may want them to make amends. We want them to pay for their offense! Not that the offender shouldn’t apologize or try to make things right but, as the forgiver, we are not allowed to demand or expect it!

Jesus freely repaid our debt on the cross. God doesn’t expect us to grovel and beg for His forgiveness; he readily hands it out to all who repent. We are to be as equally forgiving of our fellow man!

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [Matthew 6:12 (NIV)]

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. [Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)]

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April 18, 2015

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Faith & Hope, God's Grace & Love, Holidays & Holy Days, Holy Spirit, Nature, Salvation: A New You

RESURRECTION FERNS

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I lift my hands to you in prayer. I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain. [Psalm 143:6 (NLT)]

The question was asked, “How did the message of “Resurrection Day” [Easter] impact you specifically this year?” I never answered. The last two weeks have been hectic and, unfortunately, I allowed the busyness of life to keep me from feeling Easter’s complete impact. We had house guests until the day before Easter. After they left, laundry, cleaning and prep work for Easter dinner kept me from prayer and preparing my heart to receive the next day’s message. Easter morning arrived and we rushed to church where I took over 200 photos for the church website. Returning home, I had those photos to edit and post before our six dinner guests arrived. About the time the house was again clean and I’d nearly caught up with everything that hadn’t been done the week earlier, we had a second set of house guests. It wasn’t until today that I finally gave serious thought to how the Easter message has impacted my life.

We took a walk in the swamp this morning and I saw the resurrection ferns. Two days ago, when we walked the same boardwalk, the ferns’ fronds were brown and shriveled. While I reassured my guest that they were not dead, I’m not sure she believed me. It rained last night and I wish she could have seen the ferns this morning. Within thirty minutes of receiving rain, those shriveled leaves uncurl, green up and look “good as new.” Because of last night’s shower, the resurrection ferns in the swamp were lush and lovely today.

The Easter message is one of resurrection and renewal. Just as the rain water gives new life to the ferns, the living water of the resurrected Christ brings new life to us. The ferns, however, will again shrivel in the heat of the day; once we receive the Holy Spirit, we can thrive and blossom, even in hot dry spells. Jesus defeated death and by His power, we can defeat life! I have drunk of his water, been refreshed and renewed, and will never thirst again!

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for taking the shriveled bits of our lives and making them new again. With your living water, there is no need to wither and die. By the power of your Holy Spirit, we can always flourish in your garden!

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” [John 4:13-14 (NLT)]

Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, “Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.” [John 7:38 (NLT)]

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April 14, 2015

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Attitudes & Behavior, God's Word: The Bible, Obedience, Temptation & Sin, Trusting God

IN GOD’S BOAT

I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your regulations. I cling to your laws. Lord, don’t let me be put to shame! I will pursue your commands, for you expand my understanding. [Psalm 119:30-32 (NLT)]

4-14-15DSC02196CROPwebMy father, C.W. Smith, was a bit of an autocrat; his word was law and not to be questioned by anyone. One day, while fishing with a friend, the two men were preparing their lines and baiting their hooks. My father noticed that his friend was tying the lure on his line in a way entirely different from the “tried and true” Smith technique. When my dad asked his friend why he used that method, his fishing buddy replied that he’d always done it that way and that it worked fine. The friend assured my father that he always caught plenty of fish and rarely lost a lure. My dad couldn’t accept the possibility of more than one way to tie a lure and finally said, “That may be well and good. But, when you’re in the Smith boat, there is only one way to do it and that is the Smith way.”

We aren’t in the Smith boat today, so we can fish any way we want. We are, however, in God’s and He’s the one who sets the rules. Unlike fishing, there is only one way to behave in God’s boat and that is His way!

Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found. [Psalm 119:33-35 (NLT)]

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April 13, 2015

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God's Grace & Love, God's Promises, Salvation: A New You, Today: Make it Count

ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I was going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going. [John 14:1-4 (NLT)]

apple-sirenWI281webJust hours after its introduction, all models of the new Apple smartwatch sold out. Delivery is at least two weeks away and many customers will have to wait six weeks or more before receiving their new purchases. While all the Apple stores have the luxury Edition models on display (priced from $10,000 to $17,000), they can be tried on at only twenty-one stores. That limitation didn’t seem to deter buyers because, within forty minutes, the rose-gold Apple Watch Edition was sold out until July. It appears that people aren’t even concerned about the first-gen shortfalls of this new technology (like a battery that barely lasts a day); they just want one now. In fact, demand is so high that the new devices are already being resold (above the list price) on EBay. Admittedly, this new tech/fashion accessory is remarkable and far superior to the two-way wrist radio that Dick Tracy wore in the comics when I was a child. What I find interesting, however, is Apple’s marketing strategy. I’ve read that Apple spent $38 million in advertising this product and yet they didn’t produce enough watches to fulfill the expected orders. I admire Apple’s understanding of the simple economic concept of “supply and demand:” a limited supply creates a high demand!

What would it have been like if Jesus had a marketing department like Apple’s? They probably would have advised him to reconsider telling people there were more than enough rooms in his Father’s house. What if He’d said only a limited number of rooms were available, God’s house would soon be completely booked, and it would be a long time before any more could be offered? Would people have waited hours in line for his blessing so they could claim a coveted reservation in heaven? Would some have resold their spots for a profit?

Before its release date, when still officially unavailable to the public, singer Pharrell Williams was spotted wearing an Apple smartwatch on “The Voice.” If Jesus had a marketing department like Apple’s, they might have selected a few Judean celebrities and arranged special meetings for them with Jesus. Think of the buzz around Jerusalem if a well-known Pharisee or the wealthiest wine merchant had become one of Jesus’ followers. Plenty of people would have wanted to get on the Jesus train then! Instead of the rich and famous, however, Jesus had a disparate group of ordinary men and women as his followers: people just like you and me.

Unlike Apple, Jesus made one simple offer to all of mankind: believe and be saved. Since God wants everyone to have a place with him, there is an unlimited supply of rooms in heaven. Christianity isn’t an exclusive club, everyone is welcome and there’s always space for one more. Moreover, there is just one model of salvation. The wealthy or well-known won’t get nicer rooms, be better loved, or more forgiven. Jesus wasn’t interested in impressing a few people, he was interested in saving us all.

A common marketing strategy not used by Apple was the “limited time offer.” Don’t worry; if you couldn’t get a smartwatch Friday, you will be able to get one eventually; in fact, it may be an even better version. Unlike the smartwatch, however, Jesus’s offer isn’t going to improve with time. Moreover, it is for a limited time only; we just don’t know the date his offer will expire. While God will never run out of room in heaven, we may well run out of time here on earth. Don’t wait too long!

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. [Hebrews 13:14 (NLT)]

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” [Revelation 7:9-10 (NLT)]