Are you taking the time you should with God? Be honest…

We all live busy, hectic, modern lives. When we work, we work a lot. When we play, we go all out. When we are home, we have kids to take care of or school events to attend. When it comes to church, we could be at a service or small group every other day if we really wanted. It can be hard to put time aside from our eventful days to rest and be quiet before God as today’s Scripture instructs.

Being quiet before God gets even harder when a monkey wrench is thrown into our busy lives. This could be a death in the family, a rebellious child, the loss of a job, or anything at all that is unexpected. When any of these happen to us, our first response is often to set things back to “normal mode”. Who wouldn’t want to do this? We look for the plans of action necessary to set things in order and ask God to bless us along the way. We fall into the trap that action is the only solvent for the unexpected problems in life. When many times, we simply need to live as the Psalmist and “be still and know that [He is] God” Psalm 46:10. Our comfort won’t come from solving the issues alone, but knowing God and his ways during our busy life.

Begin taking 5 minutes out of your workday to be in a quiet place and rest in God. As we begin to make this a habit, we will understand its importance and remember to make more time during our busy lives for God.

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, (Isaiah 30:15 ESV)

Meekness versus weakness. No, they’re not the same

Meekness is not a split-second decision, but a way of life. Someone has described Biblical meekness as “putting the bit in your own mouth and handing the reigns over to God.” It is an humble attention, and giving everything over, to the will of God.

The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord – Isaiah 29:19a

The meek are often mistaken in our day as being weak. But meekness is actually great strength, under control – God’s control. Great faith, great commitment, and great determination are needed on a daily basis to live a meek life before God. When He requires sacrifice, meekness trusts completely and gives willingly. When He demands obedience, meekness cancels out our selfish desires, crucifies personal ambition, and performs joyfully the good will of God.

It is for this reason that the joy of the meek is continually increasing. Their pleasure is not found in personal circumstances; their happiness does not come about  from worldly popularity; their fulfillment does not come from public success.

The meek find their joy in the Lord. Therefore, the more they have of Him, the more they experience of Him, the more they know of Him, the more their joy is increased. And the more their joy is increased, the more they desire to plant their joy in the Lord and not in this world.

What about you? Have you found the dependable and lasting and ever-increasing joy that comes from a life of complete submission to our good and wise and glorious God?

How hard has your heart become

“A farmer went out to sow his seed… Some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.”—Luke 8:5

Jesus tells this parable about everyday farming to teach a spiritual truth. “The seed is the word of God,” he says. And for people who represent the hard-packed soil of the path, the Word does not sink in and take root. It is not understood, it is ignored, and the devil comes and takes it away “so that they may not believe and be saved.”

If we are hardened against God’s Word, we are unable to understand it. So a heart check is good for all of us.

Farmers remedy the hard ground by plowing it up. Spiritually we are called to the same remedy. In ancient Israel the prophet Hosea had to remind the people, “Break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you” (Hosea 10:12).

The city of Nineveh during the time of Jonah stands as a model moving from a place of hard-heartedness to breaking up the unplowed ground and seeking the Lord. When Jonah preached in Nineveh, the people believed God and declared a fast (Jonah 3:5). They humbled themselves, prayed, sought God’s face, and turned from their wicked ways. And God forgave their sins and did not bring the destruction he had threatened.

How are our hearts? God’s remedy still works today.

If Jesus came to your house…what would you do, what would you hide?

If Jesus came to your house
To spend some time with you,
If He came unexpected,
I wonder what you’d do.

Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room
To such an honored guest
And all the food you’d give to Him
Would be the very best.

And you would keep assuring Him
You’re glad to have Him there–
That serving Him in your home
Is joy beyond compare.

But when you saw Him coming,
Would you meet Him at the door
With arms outstretched in welcome
To your heavenly visitor?

Or would you have to change your clothes
Before you let Him in
Or hide some magazines
And put the Bible where they’d been

Would you hide your worldly music
and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus walk right
in, or would you rush about?

And I wonder – if the Saviour
spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing, the
things you always do?

Would you go right on saying, the
things you always say?
Or would life for you continue
as it does from day to day?

Would you take Jesus with you
everywhere you go?
Or would you maybe change your
plans for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him
meet your closest friends?
Or would you hope they stay away,
until His visit ends?

Would you be glad to have Him
stay forever on and on?
Or would you sigh with great
relief when He at last was gone?

It might be interesting to know,
the things that you would do,
If Jesus came in person, to spend
some time with you.

Judgement or forgiveness?

Let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or ob-stacle in the way of a brother or sister.—Romans 14:13

To people outside the faith, Christians often seem like hypocrites who look on the rest of the world in condemnation. We are seen as critical and self-righteous. And sometimes it’s true. Sometimes our rejection and derision make Christ look bad. We condemn those who have heard only judgment and long for grace. We disapprove of people who have made poor life choices. We wish common sense were a little more common. Our impatience with others for whom Christ died shows how much we need him too.

Sometimes we have been hurt, and our hearts cry out for justice. We want to take judgment into our own hands. Part of forgiveness involves allowing God to take care of justice. We may need good boundaries with those who are still broken, and God ordained civil authorities to restrain crime—but God alone is the judge.

Practically speaking, looking scornfully at our neighbor makes it difficult to share our witness. If we Christians shared the truth of how we have fallen down, the world might receive us better. Admitting our brokenness would allow Jesus’ restoration to shine brighter. If we approached each other as fellow sinners pointing the way to be forgiven, maybe more sinners would follow Christ.

How can you show grace today?

Prayer:

Lord, forgive us for judging one another. Teach us how to share our brokenness and to point others to Christ. Amen.

Who do you call your angel?

Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God: “They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?”

God replied, “Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you.”

“But tell me, here in Heaven, I don’t do anything else but sing and smile, that’s enough for me to be happy.”

“Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel’s love and be happy.”

“And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don’t know the language that men talk?”

“Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.”

“And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?”

“Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.”

“I’ve heard that on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me?”

“Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.”

“But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.”

“Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you.”

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly:

“Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel’s name.”

“Your angel’s name is of no importance, you will call your angel: Mommy.”

How to handle the hurting

Last night I told someone that I have become way to pessimistic for my own liking because it’s been way to long since I’ve seen anything go right for me. It wasn’t 5 minutes after I said that when I got more bad news..lol. I just cannot help but to shake my head and wonder why. It’s hard to tell most of my fellow Christians this because they’ll tell me of Job, and give me scripture of faith, some even suggesting this is all happening to me because of sin or lack of faith. The one very valuable lesson I’ve learned from all of this is how to be there for someone who is going through a lot. It’s best summed up by a wonderful woman of God who became a Quadriplegic after a diving accident. She said that people told her she was now a quad because of lack of faith or sin in her life. Her answer was, “Sometimes people don’t want an answer to why they’re going through something, they just want comfort.” What a beautiful sentiment.

If you know someone who is going through a lot, don’t try to give them strength, give them love. One of the many things I love about Jesus is that He would always LIVE the scripture He quoted. He didn’t tell you to hang in there and walk away. He told you to hang in there and healed or helped you.

My apologies for rambling this morning,  just needed to get it off my chest…:) Today my thought is…The truly happy person is the one who can enjoy the scenery even when he must take a detour.

 

Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Too Many Critics

1 John 4:¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

When Christians hate or dislike each other they’re certainly not showing love. At times, a critical Spirit will cause believers’ relationships to become strained as they judge each other. Believers will always disagree on some matters, but they should still be able to share their unity in Jesus. those with critical spirits however, will be unable to love other people. If they can’t love each other who they can see, how can they possibly love an invisible God? Christians who claim to love God but hate others are lying to themselves, God, and everyone else. Learn to love, like Our Lord above loves you.