Your Task For Today

So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.  Matthew 6:34 (NLT)

How is it possible to not worry about tomorrow? Don't we all worry about tomorrow? I know I am tempted to. I want to worry about my job, our finances, our parents, our kids and grand kids. I want to worry about my health and the logistics of keeping my home flowing. And sometimes I do.

One of the things God has been talking to me about over the last year is letting him take care of it. What does that mean exactly? Does that mean I can go out and spend a ton of money on unnecessary things and expect God to work out my finances? No. God does expect me to do my part. Does it mean when I have done my best and the ends don't meet that I can trust him to provide? Yes.

Why shouldn't we worry about tomorrow? I think maybe it's because if you spend a lot of time worrying about tomorrow, you miss what God is doing today. God is always at work. He is always doing something. We get so focused on what was or what could be or what should be (in our minds) that we miss what God is saying to us today. 

We miss his love language. We miss the promises he shares. We miss the smiles and laughter that are possible because we think we have to do it all. And most importantly, we miss his still small voice.

So how do you know what is yours and what is God's? Take a sheet of paper. Write down all the things you are worried about. Then, separate them into columns about what you can actually do something about and what you can't. The column that you can do something about is yours to tackle. The column you can't is God's.

Pray over all of it. But, don't try to move stuff from his column to yours (or visa versa). If you do, you will miss the best part of life - and that is today....this moment in time.

A Minute In It - No Blinders Here

A minute in God's word will change your life. Take a minute to read the passage below. Then, ask yourself the questions at the bottom of the post.

O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
    You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
12     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
    They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
    they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
    you are still with me!

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24 (NLT)

Is there something about you that God is not aware of? Do you have any secrets from him? Is there anywhere you can go that he cannot find you? Is there anything you have done that he has not seen? Does he know you inside and out? What is his response? And what in return should be yours?

Door #1 or Door #2?

 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you." Matthew 6:5-6 (NLT)

We have such a tendency to skim over texts we know well and not read them like we are reading for the first time. I am certainly guilty of this. But today, something different caught my eye. The word reward. It shows up in two places.

The first place is in verse five where it says that if you are praying not to connect with God but to get attention that will be your one and only reward. People will notice you and you will be praised for your many, eloquent words but that is where the fulfillment will end. Just thinking about that sounds like such a letdown. It will be short-lived and hollow.

The second place the word is used is in verse six where it says if you go off by yourself, have a one-on-one with God, just you and him he will reward you. There is no show. You don't have to have a lot of fancy words. You don't have to appear to have it all together (let's face it....he knows we don't have it all together). You just have to be you. You can be as open and honest as you want. You can spew your hurts, frustrations and disappointments and shout out your praise. This is about the connection; this is about the relationship. And no one will know except the one that counts.

The reward you get? You get some one-on-one time with the King of the Universe. You get to be real (for maybe the only time that day). You get to shift your focus from the burdens you have to the God who can and does make a difference. And in those quiet moments you know you are loved. 

I love the way The Message puts verse 6. "The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace."

Two behaviors. Two rewards. Two totally different outcomes. Which one will you choose?

Just Like a Child

Truly my soul finds rest in God. Psalm 62:1 (NIV)

My daughter recently sent me a video of my grandson. He had just gotten up from his nap and as they reached the bottom of the stairs he heard his dad's voice. He ran from the bottom of the stairs to the room where his dad stood.  As he ran he was calling out excitedly with noises (he's not old enough to talk yet).

When he got to his dad, he was scooped up and hugged. Then, he just sat there. He was content to be in his father's arms. Content to be near him. He didn't want to do anything. He just wanted to sit there and be held.

This reminded me of us. When we learn to recognize God's voice and we hear it, we run. We run toward that voice because we want to hear it again and again. We want to be scooped up and held. And when we are sitting in God's arms, we are content to just be.

There is no better place in the world to be than sitting, content, in my Father's arms.

Until Then......

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.  
2 Chronicles 7:14 (HCSB)

I was listening to a song today by Casting Crowns called Prayer For A Friend. Here are some of the lyrics.

Lord, I lift my friend to You, I've done all that I know to do
I lift my friend to You
Complicated circumstances have clouded his view
Lord, I lift my friend up to You

I fear that I won't have the words that he needs to hear
I pray for Your wisdom, oh God, and a heart that's sincere
Lord, I lift my friend up to You

Lord, I lift my friend to You
My best friend in the world, I know he means much more to You
I want so much to help him, but this is something he has to do
And Lord, I lift my friend up to You

I love that song because it gets to the heart of what we should be doing for each other. I often sing it and fill in people's names in the place of "my friend." It's like praying to music. It brings me comfort. We should be praying for each other. We should be praying for our country and for the world. We should be praying that the hate and nastiness that abounds in the world will be gone.

Unfortunately, we know that will not happen until Jesus comes again. Until then, we need to pray.  "Even so, Come Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20

Who Is Better?

Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. And look out for one another's interests, not just for your own. Philippians 2:3-4 (GNT)

We read these verses and we think "Yes! we should always think of others better than ourselves." But, we rarely do. If we were going to be real and honest about it, we may think of others as equal to ourselves but rarely do we think better.

What does someone have to do for you to think of them as better? Usually, they need to be more educated, an expert in something, have done some heroic act, served in some way, have more money. Our lists are long.

But not Jesus. He was always reaching out to people others rejected. He was always caring for those that were outcast. He chose to mingle and dine and live among those in society that were deemed not worthy to live life with. But probably one of the most poignant acts of his life was at the end. It clearly demonstrated what Jesus thought of 'the pecking order.'

Jesus was the Teacher. He was the Master. In his group of disciples, he was at the top of the chain. The disciples were next and then after them would come any servants of the household. When they were eating their last meal together, there were no servants. When they walked into the house there was no one there to wash their feet and remove the dirt before they placed them next to the table. Tradition said that only the servants did that. They were not servants so they did not do it. 

But Jesus did. He took off his outer clothing, took the basin and the towel and began to fulfill the task of the servant. He placed them in a position that was better than himself - even though he was/is the King of the World.

As I reflect on this, I know I have a very long way to go before I am modeling Jesus in this way. My heart and mind do not always reflect the attitude of a servant and I am not accustomed to thinking of everyone as better than myself.

Father God, please. Help me in this. Make me more like Jesus. Amen

A Minute In It - Living In Today's World

A minute in God's word will change your life. Take a minute to read the passage below. Then, reflect on this passage and ask God how it should impact the life you are living and how it changes how you live in today's world..

1 So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

3 And because of God's gracious gift to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking, and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God has given you. 4 We have many parts in the one body, and all these parts have different functions. 5 In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body. 6 So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace that God has given us. If our gift is to speak God's message, we should do it according to the faith that we have; 7 if it is to serve, we should serve; if it is to teach, we should teach; 8 if it is to encourage others, we should do so. Whoever shares with others should do it generously; whoever has authority should work hard; whoever shows kindness to others should do it cheerfully.

9 Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. 10 Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. 11 Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. 12 Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. 13 Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers.

14 Ask God to bless those who persecute you—yes, ask him to bless, not to curse. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. 16 Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties.[a] Do not think of yourselves as wise.

17 If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. 18 Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. 19 Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, “I will take revenge, I will pay back, says the Lord.” 20 Instead, as the scripture says: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink; for by doing this you will make them burn with shame.” 21 Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good.
Romans 12 (GNT)

Love In Spite Of.....

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:31-32 (NLT)

I don't normally comment on world events in this post. I don't ever want it to be about politics or news events. I want this always to be about God. When you look at the hatred in the world these days, it is very disturbing. And I've been thinking and praying about it the last few days.

I wanted to post about the text Galatians 3:28 that says "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus." or some other text that says we are all God's children but that is not where God led me when I prayed and asked him "What can I do?"

He led me to the text above. As Christians, we have to be very real and honest about our own behavior and our own circumstances. I do something every single day that is offensive to Christ. I cannot come near to the behavior God desires of me. But I am forgiven every single day. And every single day, I am drawn into a relationship that I do not deserve.

Am I saying we should accept hatred and bigotry and violence as acceptable? No. Not by a long shot. What I am saying though, is that Jesus never fought hatred with hatred. He never used the same means his enemies did to fix what was wrong with his world. And while I do think we are also called to defend the innocent, I think how we do it is really important.

Our hearts need to be where God wants them to be or we will not be able to make the difference we so very much desire. Hating those who are offensive is exactly the opposite of what God calls us to do (Matthew 5:44).

Is it hard to do this? Oh yeah. Does it come naturally to us? Heck no. Does it seem right and fair? No, but if God treated us the way we deserve and gave us what was fair, we'd all be dead. I only know of one way to do this. Focus on Jesus. When I am angry and bitter, give it to God and ask him to take it away. (This will have to happen multiple times.) Show love even when I don't want to and pray, pray, pray about how God wants to use me for his glory.

God tells us his way of love is the best way. Question is, are we willing to try it?