Off To The Races

What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Matthew 6:31-33 (MSG)

How many of you have seen God provide in the past? I am pretty sure every single person should have raised a hand on that one. He provides for us in obvious (food, shelter, clothing) and non-obvious (amazing functioning bodies) ways.

Yet, we (I) still worry about things. Maybe I don’t worry about food, or shelter or clothing, but I look at how things are going in my life and worry about why they are not going the way I want them to go. And then I can become anxious because I start thinking “What if they don’t go the way I want them to go?” And my mind is off to the races on a runaway horse without a bridle.

Of course, I pray about it and get some temporary relief but there is still a nagging voice in my head. This morning, I faced the nagging voice head on by asking myself and God some questions.

Why is it I feel that God will not answer my prayers?
Do I think that because he’s answered in the past that he won’t do it again?
Do I think I only get one answered prayer in a lifetime, a week or a day?
Did I forget how he has provided in the past and proven that his timing is perfect? (Obviously I did.)
Am I spending more time focused on what I want instead of who God is?
Do I trust in his promises?
And finally I got to…….

God, will you please forgive me?

I often wonder how God can so love someone with such fickleness. But then, there are those promises that deep in my core I do trust. I know he does and always will love me (and you). And that is going to be today’s focus.

Don't Say A Word

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world. Psalm 19:1-4 (NLT)

Our world is filled with noise. From the hustle and bustle of daily life, signs posted everywhere, internet grabbing our attention, TV shows and commercials, everything is clamoring to get us to look here or look there.

What do we do to deal with this? We block things out. We tend to ignore the overwhelming clatter and banter. So what is a Christian to do? How can we represent God yet not contribute to the noise? How can we reflect his glory in silence?

There is a saying I love. “Preach the gospel to all the world and if necessary use words.” Nature understands this. God’s glory is revealed with splendor yet in silence. A beautiful flower, a spectacular sunrise or a majestic animal. Why? Because they are doing what they were created to do, glorify God.

Is it possible that if we live our lives as Jesus would have us to do we would reflect God more purely and simply than we would with any words or gimmicks? We would glorify his name because he was radiating from the inside out. My guess is, if we lived as if we loved God, we could share who he is without saying a word.

What Have I Done?

The Lord looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt.
No one does good,
    not a single one! Psalm 14:2-3 (NLT)

Lauren Daigle has released a new song called “Love Like This.” She talks about how God is everything and we are nothing. The chorus says:

What have I done to deserve love like this?
What have I done to deserve love like this?
I cannot earn what You so freely give

Have you ever asked yourself that? What have I done to be deserve God’s love? If we spent just a few moments reflecting on that, we would be humbled. Because we have done nothing and will never do anything to deserve it.

That alone, should make us fall on our faces and worship.

He takes our nothing and grows our lives into something beautiful. All because he loves us so very much.

Give thanks to the God of heaven. His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 136:26 (NLT)

Time to PRAISE!!!! Spend some time today PRAISING God!

I Know You!

Job answered:

“I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me.
    I should never have opened my mouth!
I’ve talked too much, way too much.
    I’m ready to shut up and listen.”Job 40:3-5 (MSG)

A couple of years ago, I was waiting on God to show up and solve a problem in my life. I had been praying and the answers to the prayers always seemed to say “Wait.” In the midst of the waiting, things took a turn for the worse. We received bad news that was going to take the problem to a deeper level of distress.

I looked up at God and said “What are you doing? Don’t you understand that this makes things worse?” I wish I could say I stopped there but I yelled at God. I cried and I whined. After I finished my little tantrum, I asked God for help.

As time went on, it became clear that the ‘turn for the worse’ actually was exactly what needed to happen for things to work out. What seemed like a trauma at the time, was really a blessing in disguise.

I think back on those moments when I was yelling at God and not trusting him and I want to remember. I want to remember it not because I don’t think God can handle it and forgive me (after all, at the end of the book of Job God tells Job’s friends that Job was the only one who represented him accurately) but I want to remember it so I remember to trust him.

I want to remember that even if it doesn’t look like I think it should, God’s plans are never wrong. He never forgets us and he never lets us down.

All of Job’s friends told Job who they thought God was. Job only truly saw who he was when God himself stepped in. So often we look at our circumstances or listen to what others say about God and make a decision about who God is. We don’t experience him for ourselves.

In Job 42:5 Job says “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” The only way to really know God is to find him for ourselves. In that experience, he will be real to us and nothing, not our circumstances or other’s opinions will be able to change our minds.

A Minute In It - Time To Praise!

A minute in Gods' word will change your life. There are days when all we need to do is PRAISE God! Read through the Bible verses below and use it to remember all the things you are thankful for.

1-6 I love God because he listened to me,
    listened as I begged for mercy.
He listened so intently
    as I laid out my case before him.
Death stared me in the face,
    hell was hard on my heels.
Up against it, I didn’t know which way to turn;
    then I called out to God for help:
“Please, God!” I cried out.
    “Save my life!”
God is gracious—it is he who makes things right,
    our most compassionate God.
God takes the side of the helpless;
    when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.

7-8 I said to myself, “Relax and rest.
    God has showered you with blessings.
    Soul, you’ve been rescued from death;
    Eye, you’ve been rescued from tears;
    And you, Foot, were kept from stumbling.”

9-11 I’m striding in the presence of God,
    alive in the land of the living!
I stayed faithful, though bedeviled,
    and despite a ton of bad luck,
Despite giving up on the human race,
    saying, “They’re all liars and cheats.”

12-19 What can I give back to God
    for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
    I’ll pray in the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it together with his people.
When they arrive at the gates of death,
    God welcomes those who love him.
Oh, God, here I am, your servant,
    your faithful servant: set me free for your service!
I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice
    and pray in the name of God.
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it in company with his people,
In the place of worship, in God’s house,
    in Jerusalem, God’s city.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 116 (MSG)

Dead Wrong

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. Job 19:25 (NLT)

Last night I got together with some ladies and the conversation turned to a funeral that one had recently attended. She shared that the person who gave the service talked about how everyone should straighten up their life and get it together because they were all going to die.

I am sure those were not the exact words but that is what most people came walked away hearing. Do you think that is what people think of God? That he’s up there, looking for ways to punish us for our mistakes? Ready to pounce at the first flub up?

Job’s friends thought that. When he was going through some really tough life situations, they sat around and said things like:

You must have done something wrong and you get what you deserve.
Think about it….you messed up somewhere. Why else would this be happening to you?
God punishes people through bad circumstances.
This is always how it’s been Job, why do you think you are any different?

There is a lot of back and forth with Job’s friends saying these things and Job, although he is frustrated and is asking God for answers, keeps saying “No, no, no! This is not the God I know. He says that his Redeemer is alive and well and he will overcome.”

Satan has painted a picture of this kind of God. The God who is sitting in Heaven looking down and trying to catch us at something bad so he can swiftly exact punishment to teach us a lesson. This is not the God the Bible represents.

How precious is your unfailing love, O God! Psalm 36:7

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:9-10

This is the God we serve. He gave His Son so that we could come and live with him forever. When God looks at you, he sees Jesus.  When he looks at you, he is overcome with love. Where did this idea that God is only out to punish us come from?  Ask yourself. Who would benefit from your belief that God is bad?  There is only one.  And he’s wrong. Dead wrong.

Strategies For The Race

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! Hebrews 12:1-3 (MSG)

I love this text and of course, God brought it to my reading just when I needed it. Sometimes, if I look at all that seems to be on my plate (which this week feels like a large turkey platter), I get overwhelmed. It’s too hard. I can’t get there from here.

This verse reminds me that my focus is myopic. I am looking at my list of things to be done and not looking at the big picture. Think about Jesus’ life. He intentionally mentored 3 people (Peter, James and John) and also coached the other 9. In addition to that, there were people he encountered that he also helped along the way. He had friendships that he maintained and there was a constant, demanding throng that were always taking from him. How did he do this?

Scripture tells us Jesus kept his eyes on the end game. He never lost sight of where he was headed. Were his days busy? Sure. Did he get tired? Yes, he did. But through all that, he stayed in touch with the Father and he stayed focused.

What drove him? We did. He knew he was headed to the cross. He knew what that looked like and the immense shame and pain that would bring but, he kept walking. He ran the race getting rid of anything that would prevent him from reaching his goal. He was looking forward to the joy he would experience when the task was finished.

Remember. Remember the love that drove him down the path of sacrifice. This will encourage you on your journey. This (He) is our example.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NLT)

Not A Coincidence

When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers and his wife said, “Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.” Esther 6:13 (NLT)

The book of Esther is a different book. It’s a story of a young girl, captured and placed in the king’s palace until she was brought before the king. If he liked her, she might become queen. If he didn’t she would like as his concubine for the rest of her life. Strange book to be in the Bible, huh? What’s even more unusual is that God is not mentioned in it at all.

As you follow the story, there are a series of events that happen.

1. Esther is captured and groomed for her night with the king.

2. The people helping Esther really liked her and went out of their way to help her succeed.

3. The king loved Esther more than any of the others and made her queen. (Esther 2)

4. Mordecai, her uncle, just happened to over hear a plot to kill the king and saved the king’s life by revealing it to the authorities.

5. The second in command, Haman, hated Mordecai and decided to have all the Jews killed. He did not know Esther was Jewish. (Esther 3)

6. Esther decides to reveal her identity and Haman’s plot but she is terrified that she will die. She and all the Jews pray. (Esther 4)

7. She goes before the king, invites him and Haman to a banquet, but does not yet reveal her purpose. (Esther 5)

8. That night, King Xerxes could not sleep so he asked his servants to read him the King’s chronicles. They just happened to read the part where Mordecai had saved his live and he discovered that Mordecai had never been rewarded. (Esther 6)

9. He forced Haman to honor Mordecai. This humiliated Haman.

There is turn of events after turn of events that move the story in favor of Esther and the Jews. Some people would call these coincidences. But, I would not and apparently, neither did Haman’s wife. She said “Since he is of Jewish birth, you will not succeed in your plans.” Had she heard of the God of the Jews who went before his people and protected them? Did she know of the stories where they miraculously triumphed over those seeking to destroy them? Obviously, she believed what she had heard before.

The story goes on and the Jews are saved. God was working in the background all along to work things out for his people. He is still doing this for us today. We are not left to chance. God is always at work. Even if things look coincidental, they are not. There is a Divine Plan in place. Trust in the One who is setting that plan into motion.