The Tortoise and The Hare

I saw a pair of shoes on Pinterest the other day. On the toe of one shoe a picture of the tortoise had been embroidered and a picture of the hare on the other toe. Most of you will remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. The gist of the story goes like this: The hare, being the fast rabbit that he was, challenged the tortoise to a race. The over confident hare ran way ahead of the tortoise then messed around, eating a big meal and taking a nap.The tortoise just kept plugging along, steady Eddy, staying the course, focused, intentional. Unlike the hare who was so full of himself and so very sure he would win the race, hands down. He was thinking only of winning, so sure he was right about the race.

 As I looked at the shoes, thinking about the old story and how the shoes were such a good reminder of the Christian life. Am I living like the hare, over confident so sure I am doing it right, that I am winning, no problem? I am just playing around in my walk with the Lord?  Or am I living like the hare, focused, intentional, steady and still in the race. In the end the tortoise won the race and the hare said to him:"Slowly does it every time."

On this the last day of 2013, may we take a few moments to look at our walk with the Lord. Ask Him to give us knowledge of His plan for 2014. May we be like the tortoise this year, focused, intentional and steady in order to fulfill the good works He has prepared for us.

Happy New Year to You all!

The Cup

Psalm 23 speaks about a cup running over. I never really thought much about having a cup until the other day. As a little girl going downtown was a big deal since we lived in the country. I remember seeing a cripple beggar who sat in front of the dime store. He had a cup. A tin cup which he held up to everyone passing by. I felt really bad for the man. I did not understand what he was doing. I had never seen any one begging.

The more I thought about this beggar and his cup, the more I realized we all have a cup. Imagine seeing everyone you meet with a tin cup in their hand. They come toward you and bump their cup into yours. Some of them are looking for love. Some are looking for acceptance to be poured into their cup. Some need a kind word or a smile dropped in. Some want you to give them peace or hope. Ultimately they are begging for someone to fill them up. The next question is do you have what they need?

Is your cup full or are you lifting it up to someone?  Are you trying to get something from people that only God can give? Daily, we must lift our cup up to Him to be filled. The very first thing God puts into your cup is His love, then His grace. He definitely intends for you to let that to overflow to everyone you meet. When our cup is full we can lead others to the Spiritual Cup Filler, Jesus. So today if you need something, anything just lift up your cup to Him.

He Speaks

What a wonderful thing: God is not a chatterbox. He doesn't say things to hear Himself talk. He doesn't say things to get us to like Him. He doesn't talk out both sides of His mouth. He says what He means and He means what He says. He always, always tells the truth, even if it hurts. He does not say things to manipulate us. He is not a people pleaser. When the next bunch of people are born, His word will still be standing for them too. When everything is said and done, His word stands forever.

His word stands the test of time. It still stands after all the rotten tomatoes are thrown. It stands no matter what an "important" person may say about it. It stands no matter what science or philosophy says. It still stands even if we don't choose to believe it. His word stands because He stands.

God is not impressed with what we think. God is not swayed by how we see things. God is God and that is that. He does not change. He will never change because He is who He says He is. We are the ones who must change. We must come into complete agreement with His word. You know how people are, everybody thinks it should be their way. It should be the best for them. Now with millions of  people on this planet, how do we think that is working? Not very well. God in His great wisdom knew people would have all kinds of problems agreeing on much of anything. So He speaks.

He gives us His word. He says to us: "Here it is, this is how you live life." He is the final authority on everything because it all belongs to Him. The universe, the earth, the people and all the stuff is His. It is high time we stopped trying to play God in our part of the universe. It is time to listen and obey His word. Truth be told it would really be a relief to not have to figure it all out and make it all happen. He speaks to all, apply His grace today!

Lord, I Need Peace!

Peace is more than carrying a cardboard sign in a demonstration against war. Peace is more than a emblem on a tee shirt or necklace. Peace is more than a drug or booze induced state. Peace, real peace is what only Jesus can give to us.

Jesus gives us the truth about peace. In John 14:27, He says: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Jesus says He is the one who gives peace. His peace is not like the world's peace. He is the Prince of Peace. His peace in not in checking out with drugs or alcohol. You don't have to hold a demonstration to get it. Wearing a tee shirt or a necklace with the world's peace sign on it won't bring it into your heart.

Your heart has to let it come in. Your heart has to be sick and tired of all the useless attempts you have made just to" have some peace". When you decide to "let" Jesus, the Prince of Peace come in and rule your life, He will flood into you like a tsunami with real eternal peace, the peace that surpasses all understanding. You will be left wondering. Why did I wait? How did I miss this great peace?... Jesus Christ.

If you need peace, just go to Him. Talk to Him about your life and ask for His peace to fill you up. He wants you to have it because He knows you need it. We can take off the tee shirts and necklace. Today we can put down the cardboard sign and receive real peace. Jesus.
 

The Ruler

Isn't it time to put away our rulers? You know the one we take out in our mind when we meet someone or encounter a different situation. The one we measure how they look or act. The one we use to decide if they are okay or not. The one we use to make our self feel better about things. While "the ruler" may just be in our minds, it is very real.

Most of us can tell when someone takes out their ruler to measure us. We can see it in their eyes, the expression on their faces, the way they turn their head when they see us, what they say to us, or their tone of voice. What we are so blind about is when we take out our own ruler and use it. I believe Jesus had something to say about this "ruler thing". In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus says: "Don't judge, so you won't be judged." He reminds us we may have a plank in our own eyes when we see a speck in someone else's eye. He tells us to remove the plank so we can see clearly. I believe the plank He is talking about could be our "ruler".

Rulers belong in desks not in our hearts and minds. This special time of year when we have Christ on our mind because of Christmas, why not put the ruler away for good. Everybody wants to be loved and accepted like they are. Trying to live life by someone's ruler is impossible. We can never seem to measure up. But we don't have to do anything to measure up to God. Christ did that for us. He is the only "RULER" I need in my life. His grace applied today! 

God Winks!

I have a friend who visited the other day. As we caught up on life, she mentioned God winks. She described them as the time when God does something only He can do just for you. She gave examples and as we talked I realized we all have them. Maybe we just don't give God the credit for them. Maybe we called them another name such as "luck", "fate" or  heaven forbid, we would even act like we had something to do with it.

We all like to think we are in the "cat- bird" seat of our life. The place where we claim we see all and know all about everything. Actually it is called" trying to play God". What a job! I don't know if you have ever done this or not but I have. I was exhausted, frustrated and confused while attempting to run the whole universe. I gave it all up many months ago. I just couldn't keep up with everybody and all I decided needed to be done for them.

Another thing I discovered while trying to play God. A lot of other people are doing the same thing. No wonder God says: "I am God and there is no other". He tells us to stay out of His big shoes because there is no way we can fill them. I am so thankful He is God, I am not and neither is anybody else. I am going to give Him all the credit, glory, honor and praise for the God winks He does in my life. I am going to get out of His way so He can do those things for me, only He can do. God winks! His grace applied.   

Hope For Your Pain

Today as I think about this season of celebration we started in November, I am aware the holidays are most often viewed as happy, joyous, and full of fun with family and friends. But not many years ago this time of year was so painful for me. It was a reminder of loss, suffering, loneliness and heartbreak. There are memories of all the ones who passed away, who shared this special time. Then, the realization, there could be ones who will not be present because of relationship problems.There will be those who live far away and can't make it home. Regardless of the reason, it still hurts.

The hurt we are experiencing is just what Jesus specializes in. He is "The Comforter, The Mighty God, The Prince of Peace, He is The Healer, The Wonderful Counselor, He is The Great I AM, He is Hope, Joy, Truth, and Wisdom from the heart of God the Father. This is His time of year. This is the time we celebrate His birth. The" Indescribable Gift" from God to us.

I want to encourage you to accept Gods gift to you, Jesus. If you have not received Him as your Lord and Savior, there is a tab at the top of this page, entitled Jesus-Your Salvation, which can give you more information about Him. He is waiting for you to come to Him. If you have accepted Him, I want you to apply His grace to your pain. His amazing grace which will help you as you go through this time of year. He wants to help you. He wants to love on you and be the great God, He is, in your situation. Let me assure you from His word. Nothing is too hard for the Lord God of the Universe, Nothing.

Will you take His grace and apply it? He is waiting on you. Go to Him now and tell Him everything.       

Stuck in Unforgiveness

As if it is anything to brag about, I should have a Doctor's degree in unforgiveness. I spent over twenty years living in it and sad to say I did not even realize I was stuck. That sounds bizarre doesn't it? Well, that is just one small example of the deception the enemy of our soul uses to keep us stuck.

It started out like any other thing starts. I was just living life the best I could with the knowledge I had. My knowledge was an accumulation of tradition with pieces and parts gleaned from the world around me and a proper raisi'n ( As my mother would say, "You can tell they have been raised right"). Sometimes my mother took me to church. My grandmother took me every time I visited her but my heart did not go. My heart, that needed to hear about the grace of God, was just too small. Even though I accepted Jesus when I was thirteen, I didn't read the bible or see how God could help me until much later.

But later, oh the later, I really needed to understand and encompass the grace of God and more than that, apply it to to myself. You see I was willing to forgive other people but not myself. I held myself hostage in a prison of so much guilt and condemnation I could barely breathe. I just knew I had made this mess and surely I could fix it, couldn't I? No, I could not fix much of anything, not even supper some days. I so wanted to make things right. I so wanted things to be right, but they weren't.

They weren't right because I was not right with God. I was keeping Him and His grace at bay. I thought I had to pay for what I had done. I thought I didn't deserve it. So, sad to say I was waiting on the people I had hurt to forgive me before I allowed God to forgive me for the awful things I had done. But God in His great amazing grace helped me. I was so sick and tired of feeling miserable, guilty and depressed all the time. I finally gave up the lie. The lie that I could ever pay for what I had done. The lie that I could fix other people's pain. I was my own worst enemy. I was like a rag doll in the devil's hand, he was controlling my life, if you can even call it a life. I can tell you from experience, he wants to kill, steal and destroy and for twenty years I let him do just that. He killed my faith, he stole my peace and he destroyed my hope. But God, two of my favorite words in the bible, wanted me to apply His grace and forgive everyone, especially myself.

Understand  this, forgiveness is a choice. It is not a natural thing. It does not come easy because there is hurt.The pain we feel is very real. The anger we feel because of the hurt is very real. But forgiveness is very real too. When we have practiced hurt, anger, guilt and condemnation of our self or others, it takes just as much practice of forgiveness to let it all go. What I mean by that is this: When something happens to us or we do something to someone, most of the time we think about it, we talk about it, we think about it, we talk about it. We go over it and over it. We drive it home so to speak. When we do this we allow the enemy of our soul to set up a stronghold in our mind. The enemy will bring it up to us in our thoughts every chance he gets. He will get us into think about it, talk about it mode, driving it deeper into our heart through our thoughts. It is at this point, you have to remind yourself you have forgiven that person, or situation. You have to tear down the strongholds with the truth of God, which is I have forgiven. You have to chose to apply His grace, every time, to every person and every situation. Practice. practice. practice.... Applying His grace.