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December 19, 2013

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Attitudes & Behavior, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Obedience, Thanks & Praise

Some Overdue Thanks

The punishment you gave me was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws. They are more valuable to me than millions in silver and gold! [Psalm 119:71-72 (TLB)]

Discipline and punishment are two concepts that seem to have fallen out of favor and yet they teach us about living as we should: about accepting responsibility for our words and actions. They teach us self-restraint, the inevitability of consequences, and the importance of being true to ourselves and God. Oddly enough, I don’t remember ever thanking someone for punishing or disciplining me. In fact, I probably said unpleasant things about them under my breath. Today let’s give them some overdue thanks.

Thank you, Lord, for those people in the past who cared enough about us to demand good behavior and to teach us the difference between right and wrong. Thank you for those people in our lives today who won’t hesitate to chastise us when we err in our ways. Lord, thank you for correcting us by putting people in our lives who make us accountable for our conduct.

After you have corrected me, I will thank you by living as I should! I will obey! Oh, don’t forsake me and let me slip back into sin again. [Psalm 119:7-8 (TLB)]

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December 17, 2013

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Challenges & Difficulty, Faith & Hope, Prayer

Lord, Help!

“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely into harbor! [Psalm 107: 28-30 (NLT)]

Why do we so readily call upon God to help us find our lost keys or to ease traffic so we can get to an appointment on time, and not immediately turn in prayer to Him when there is an illness, a troubled relationship, or a family crises? Are we afraid he can’t handle the really big stuff? This is the God who parted the Red Sea and fed 5000 with a few morsels of food. All we need to do is cry, “Lord, help!”

He is close to all who call on him sincerely. He fulfills the desires of those who reverence and trust him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. [1 Chronicles 29:18-19 (TLB)]

I do not know much about God and prayer, but I have come to believe, over the past twenty-five years, that there’s something to be said about keeping prayer simple. Help. Thanks. Wow.   [Anne Lamott, from “Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers”]

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December 16, 2013

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Attitudes & Behavior, Temptation & Sin

What Tempts You?

To an evil person, sin is bait in a trap, but a righteous person runs away from it and is glad. [Proverbs 29:6 (GW)]

When trying to trap an animal, a good hunter uses bait specifically designed for each animal. For the mouse, it is peanut butter or cheese; for a groundhog, cantaloupe and corn; for a coyote, tainted game meat. For a bear, lard, donuts and frosting are recommended! Satan is a wily hunter, too, and he knows just what tempts each one of us. What tempts one of us quite often has no appeal to another. What sort of bait does he use on you? Think about it. It’s wise to know exactly what tempts us so we can avoid stepping into the trap of sin!

Don’t let us be tempted, but save us from the Evil One. [Matthew 6:13 (ERV)]

Just say, “No!” [1980s slogan for the “War on Drugs”]

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December 15, 2013

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God's Plan, God's Promises

There Were Prophesies

O Bethlehem … you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past! … And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and his people shall remain there undisturbed, for he will be greatly honored all around the world. He will be our Peace. [Micah 5:2,4-5 (TLB)]

From the time of the exodus around 1440 BC, the Hebrews had been waiting for their promised savior. Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah all prophesized the coming of a messiah. John the Baptist was making the same prophesy during the time Jesus lived. Yet, what happened? Why didn’t they recognize Jesus when he came? Perhaps it was because they weren’t thinking big enough. Although most of the Jews believed a messiah would arrive and that he would bring a new kingdom, they thought this would simply be a new government for Israel that was not under the rule of Rome. God had much bigger plans for his people. Thank you God, for thinking big and beyond the here and now. The promised Messiah freed us from more than bondage to Rome; He freed us from our bondage to sin. The promised Messiah did, indeed, bring us a new kingdom: the kingdom of God!

“Comfort, yes, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and tell her that her sad days are gone. Her sins are pardoned, and I have punished her in full for all her sins.” Listen! I hear the voice of someone shouting, “Make a road for the Lord through the wilderness; make him a straight, smooth road through the desert. Fill the valleys; level the hills; straighten out the crooked paths, and smooth off the rough spots in the road. The glory of the Lord will be seen by all mankind together.” The Lord has spoken—it shall be. [Isaiah 40:1-5 (TLB)]

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December 13, 2013

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God's Plan, Obedience, Sorrow, Grief & Regrets, Temptation & Sin

Run For Your Life

When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” … But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt. [Genesis 19:16-17, 26 (NLT)]

Sodom was to be destroyed. Lot warned his sons-in-law who laughed and ignored him. Even Lot was tentative about leaving until the angels pulled him away. Lot finally took his wife and daughters and fled the doomed city. Unfortunately, Lot’s wife just had to take one last look back and she, too, was destroyed.

We may not live in Sodom, but we might be mired in things that can destroy us: unhealthy lifestyles, destructive habits, harmful relationships, dead-end jobs, or deepening depression. God will provide a means of escape but we are the ones who will have to take the journey. It could take professional help or simply some deep soul-searching but there may be changes we must make or we, too, will be destroyed. Being willing to make a change is not easy, but it is often necessary for our salvation. Let’s not be like Lot’s sons-in-law and ignore God’s warning or like Lot’s wife who clung to her past. Our past must never keep us from the beautiful future God has planned for us.

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. [Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)]

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December 11, 2013

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Holidays & Holy Days, Love & Works

Christmas Gifts

2013-12-11Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God’s, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors. [Deuteronomy 15:10-11 (MSG)]

I have a friend who needed to rent a truck to bring home all of the gifts she’d purchased this last weekend. She said she still has twenty-six more gifts to purchase for Christmas. God wisely kept His hand over my mouth as I pondered her words.

The first Christmas gift wasn’t wrapped in a gaudy box and laid under an ornamented tree in a beautifully decorated home. The first Christmas gift was wrapped in strips of cloth and laid in a feed trough in a stable. That first gift was a gift of sacrifice, forgiveness and love. Unlike today’s presents, that first gift will never break, go out of style, wear out, or need replacement batteries. The gift of Jesus is a present that continues to work it’s miracle of love and redemption. Lord, guide us so that the gifts we give at Christmas reflect your grace and not simply the depth of our pockets or the extent of our credit limits!

The best gift we can offer others is the gift of our time. A helping hand, a listening ear, simple words of encouragement and support: these are presents wrapped in love and caring. They may be small gifts handed out just now and then, but over the years they add up to so much. [Joel Osteen, from “The Christmas Spirit”]