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Posts Tagged ‘Where did you find God today?’

Shut the Door

Posted in Biblical, Devotional, tagged , , , , , on March 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »


She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out. 2 Kings 4:22

She was rich, the Bible says. She would give the prophet Elisha a meal whenever he was in town because she knew he was a holy man of God. It was her way to honor him and the Lord. In fact, she made up a small room for Elisha to stay in so he could rest from his travels. But when her son fell ill and died, she didn’t lay the boy on his bed or even her own as was the custom for mourning visitations before burial. She laid him on Elisha’s guest bed and shut the door.

That, to me is an important difference. It shows faith. She didn’t mourn at all. She knew if anyone could revive her son, it was the man who acted for God, and hopefully, by the power of God, he’d heal the boy.

You see, she had been barren and Elisha prophesized God would give her a son in thanksgiving for her hospitality. So when that happened, she knew it as a gift from God. When her son collapsed in her arms and breathed his last, she sought out Elisha. She went to the source. She wanted the prophet, and only the prophet, to come since it was he who had prophesized she’d have the boy. Elisha saw her tenacious faith, went with her, and revived her son while she waited outside of the door.

The story tells me that when something awful happens to me, I need to respond in faith. Set it down, shut the door, and seek Jesus instead of wallowing in my sorrow or fear or hurt. Not try by my own knowledge or strength to handle it, and not to get angry with God. If I respond in faith, Jesus will respond to me.

Photo by PhotoMIX Company on Pexels.com

God may not do exactly as I ask, as Elsiha did for the tenacious woman, but He will do what is best in my situation. My response is to trust and pray. Shut the door on my problem and seek His face before anything else. He will know how to handle it as I wait patiently.

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Pesky Weeds

Posted in Christian, tagged , , , , , on February 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

A friend in my Bible study group said, “I keep having these negative thoughts crop up in my mind, and I have to yank them out. It’s like God is bringing them to the surface so I know they are there.”

It made me think about the “grow your own lavender” gift my son gave me. In it was a packet of seeds, which I planted in the provided soil and set out on my patio in a semi-sunny location. But evidently, some weedy seeds got mixed into the soil, probably from the bird feeder. Until they pushed to the surface and began to grow, I wouldn’t have known they had been buried there. Just like my friend’s thoughts.

Jesus told his dsiciples about weeds in a parable in Matthew 13:

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

Now in the parable, the man tells the workers to let the weeds grow with the wheat until harvest and at that time they could “weed things out”. Jesus was referring to Judgement Day. There will be good and evil side by side until then.

But the concept is the same. We are sponges. Our brains absorb images and actions in our surroundings, many subconsciously. Try as we may, it is hard to filter all the “bad” out. Through the mercy of the Holy Spirit, we can be guided to know what is good (of God) and what is bad (not of God). As these weeds, which are not of God, grow into our consciousness, we can plunk them out and refuse to let them take deep root. Bitterness, anger, envy, an unforgiving spirit…these are all things that, if left to grow, can choke out the fruit of the Spirit.

So the next time a negative thought floats to my attention like an answer in a Magic Eight Ball, instead of chastising myself, I will do as my friend suggests. Yank it out, give it to God and let Him deal with it. Gone. Then fill the “hole” with Scripture and let that grow instead.

How about you?

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The Three P’s

Posted in Biblical, Devotional, tagged , , , , , , on January 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:16

When in comes to the Christan walk, there are three p’s:

Prayer

Power

Purpose

Prayer is the most powerful tool we have for fulfilling God’s purpose. When a car has a wobbly tire, it is hard to steer it straight. It keeps wanting to veer off. Prayer brings our mind, heart, and spirit in alignment with God the way a mechanic aligns the tires. It keeps us going in the right direction. Prayer is a privileged conversation with the Almighty, which requires listening as well as talking. It reminds us of God’s power when we humble ourselves and trust. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16b)

Power is an elusive thing, except when it comes to God. He has power over everything, yet He grants us the free will to accept it or not. Many people find this to be a stumbling block because they wish to retain power. But once a person experiences the power of God, they soon fall to their knees in awe, and their response is prayer. They discover a new purpose–letting go and letting God. They learn freedom is bliss inside boundaries. They are no longer tethered to the lie that they have to be in total control. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. (Lord’s Prayer)

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Purpose – most of us at one time or another ask ourselves what our purpose is in life, or if life itself has a purpose. The answer is found in our relationship with God. Job knew this even after he went through more calamities than a person should ever have to experience. He said, “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2). The Christian has two purposes, which Jesus stated all else rests upon–Love God, love neighbor. (Matthew 27:37-40). Neither is easily accomplished without the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our lives, giving it purpose.

The initial Scriptural quote from Exodus is concerning Pharoah and his hardened heart. I chose it as an encouragement. God has a purpose for everything and everyone. He used Pharoah to show His power not out of some ego stunt but to show His people, the Hebrews, that He was with them and would not forsake them. It was also to show Pharoah that he was not a god. His power was limited.

Today there is pesecution in ways we have never experienced, and some say it will only get worse. Society will conintue to crumble into chaos, morals will keep declining, and life will be further devaluated.

Fear not. God has the power and a purpose. We can seek that and receive it through prayer, bringing power and purpose to our lives and those of others.

For more information, consider getting P.R.A.Y.I.N.G: Bringing more Power and Purpose to Your Prayers

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Watch Out for the D

Posted in Christian, Devotional, tagged , , , , on January 26, 2021| Leave a Comment »


“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry… Ephesians 4:26

Anger is an emotion. Even Jesus experienced anger (see John 2:14-15). He cursed a barren fig tree and it withered. He called the Pharisees a brood of vipers. But He didn’t chew on his anger, digest it, and let it get inside of Him.

It is difficult to control emotions when they bubble up but we can choose how to respond to them when they do surface. IF your anger leads to malice, or envy, or pre-judgment or gossip or not treating the other person in love (even if it is tough love) then watch out! You may be giving the devil an entrance.

When we put a “d” in front of anger (the devil) is spells DANGER!

When anger bubbles up, be careful of what you think or say. Stop. Give it to the Lord. The old adage of counting slowly to ten before reacting has merit.

Anger can become more than a gut reaction. If we brood, it can lead to digestive issues and an embittered attitude. Righteous anger can lead to positive results if guided by the Holy Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) but anger that has been stirred by the devil rarely makes a good recipe to swallow. It is flavored with self and seasoned with negativity. Add a dash of hurt and you are in a stew!

We are all human, and we can get angry. But it is what we allow to happen next that makes all the difference.

I found God’s message today in adding a the letter d to anger in a word game. Where will you find Him speaking to you in your day? I’d love to hear your answer.

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HOPE 2

Posted in Christian, Devotional, tagged , , , , , on January 11, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Two years ago I wrote on hope seeing it as:

H – Holding

O – Onto

P – Promised

E – Eternity

Many people choose a word for the new year, and for the past several years ago I have as well. Last year it was grateful, and through this pandemic, being grateful for my blessings was something I leaned upon a great deal to stay faithful and positive.

This year God placed the word HOPE on my heart. I’ll be honest, that made me a bit nervous. Then I recalled my little formula.

Hope is more than wishing. The dictionary says it is to “expect with confidence.” When you and I hold onto the promises of the eternal, then it produces hope. God keeps His promises. He has in the past and He will continue to do so. As I often say, He is there and He cares.

Whatever happens in 2021, I know this to be true and I can cling to it. This is not my home, and this life is not all there is. There is an eternity waiting for me. An existence basking in the love of God, praising the Lamb for His sacrifice, and never experiencing pain, grief, illness, or rejection again.

A social media post asks if it bothers you that this year is saying “2020-won”? No, because God wins. Each and every time. That is a hope we can cling to.

David wrote , Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24. That is my prayer for you, no matter what this year brings.

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews stressed: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we possess, for He who promised is faithful. (10:23).

Join me in holding onto the promises of God in hope – unswerving, steady, expectant confidence that He has got this. As Paul said, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39). Nothing can snatch us from His hands. Nothing. Not a virus, a secular angry society, an unexpected illness, a job loss, an unfaithful spouse, or the heartbreak of a wayward child.

Amen and amen.

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What Gift?

Posted in Biblical, Christian, Devotional, tagged , , , , , on December 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »

This time of year many of our minds are on gifts. What are we going to give Uncle George who is so hard to shop for? What about our grown kids? Our coworkers? Our pastors or ministry teams? How much should we spend? Should we bake cookies and treats to give neighbors or is that against the new social distancing rules?

And when someone asks us what gift we want this Christmas, what should we tell them?

This year, I want to ask you what I have been asking myself. What will I give Jesus this year?

After all, it is His birthday.

The magi brought Him gifts of frankincense, gold, and myrrh.  According to the song. the little drummer boy brought him his talent by playing Jesus a song on his drum. And the baby Jesus smiled when he did. If anyone has heard a child play an instrument, they can relate. It may not have been the most amazingly executed tune they’ve heard, but the heart, the enthusiasm, and the intent on pleasing are there in every note. Who could but smile?

According to Romans 12:6, We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  

God has gifted us with amazing things – forgiveness, eternal life in His presence, and a love that brings peace beyond understanding. These are all wrapped up in the birth and sacrifice of His Son, who was born to die so we may live.

And through His Holy Spirit Jesus gifted us with gifts of the Spirit so we can live in this world without despairing, draw others to Him, and give Him the glory.  And He has graced you with a talent that can be used to His glory. Be it the ability to write, to calculate, to invent, to make money, to speak and inspire, to sing, or perhaps to play the drum.

Everything you have is a gift from God in one way or another.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

So what can we give the One who has everything?

Ourselves is the obvious answer. But what part of ourselves will we particularly give Him in 2020? Our best? He has that already. 

Why not pledge to give God something He can use? 

  • Our tendency to be anxious instead of trusting?
  • Our quick-to-judge character that dams up our ability to love and empathize?
  • The temper that blocks us from opening our hearts?
  • The doubts and fears that stop up our ability to give thanks in all circumstances?

Strange gifts perhaps. But if we give God our shortcomings, He can turn them into blessings for us and others. When we give of ourselves, it is the gift that keeps on giving once it is in Jesus’s nail-scarred hands. Because once we give our doubts, fears, anger, and prejudices to Him they are no longer in our possession. He can then do amazing things with them while He gives us comfort, joy, peace, and a loving heart instead. That will attract us, believers, to people and people to us.

Let us lay at His feet one of the things we need to work on in our character that keep us from being Christ-like and watch what He can do with it in 2021.

Christmas blessings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Immunotherapy

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on October 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Allergies. Annoying. Postnasal drip, persistent cough, pressure around the teary eyes. I have been under immunotherapy for 6 months where the allergist injects into my body the things that irritate my body, slowing increase the amount, so I will build up an immunity to them. So far, it has only made my symptoms worse and my body wants to reject them even more. The allergist says it is part of the process and eventually my body will accept these irritants.

It seems this world wants us to undergo spiritual immunotherapy. Slowly our minds are injected with a viewpoint that initially the Holy Spirit in us would scream, “Reject!” Little by little, we are exposed over and over again to the things that prick our conscience. They get under our skin. Everywhere we look, acceptance is promoted.

Eventually, we can begin to get used to it as semi-normal. Seeing or hearing about these activities and opinions does not cause the adverse reaction they once did. We look the other way. After all, we are not to judge, right? It is a lifestyle, and if they have found love and happiness, is that so bad? There is too much hate in the world as it is.

A wise minister once said that Jesus loves us where we are, but too much to leave us there. God is there. And He cares.

We have all fallen short. We all sin. But, that means we all must be drawn to repentance of the sin, not acceptance. While we can love the sinner, and we should in order to help them, let us not become immune to the sin no matter what it is.

They say that sin always has “I” in the middle. The “I” doesn’t mean immunotherapy. It means looking inwardly at oneself. If that does not spur a need for repentance then that “I” is the issue. I am just born this way. It is who I am, accept me anyway. I don’t want to change.

The only cure is to replace the “I” with an “O” – let the sin be changed by the Son. He alone can encourage each of us to omit sin from our lives. But each of us can help open hearts to His ways by refusing to become immune to sin and yet still loving the person anyway. That takes strength from the Holy Spirit. And it takes time.

Maybe if we worked more to eliminate sin in our society rather than build up an immunity to it we could all breathe a bit easier. 

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-3

 

 

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Come to Me

Posted in Christian, Devotional, Life Experiences, tagged , , , , , , on October 13, 2020| Leave a Comment »

“Let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me… ” Isaiah 27:5

Training pets takes patience, time, and tenacity. I’ve had my little guinea pig for about five months now. At first, he was so afraid of this giant outside of his cage but slowly he has come to trust me as the person who opens his bag of food to scoop some into his bowl or reaches in the refrigerator to bring him veggies. But, I am also the one who disturbs him when I have to clean out his cage. Sometimes I turn on this loud box with flashing pictures and weird sounds in the evening. And I use this noisy machine with a light in front of it and run it back and forth across the carpet.

Several times a week I lay an old beach towel down on the sofa and let him wander around on it as I sit at one end. Usually, I lay down a snack for him as well. He has slowly started to come to me on his own, cuddling next to my hip and giving off soft guinea pig chortles. But only for a few seconds, then he’d skitter away. After a few minutes, he’d return, but the cautious pattern continued.

Last night an amazing thing happened. He stopped, crawled into my lap, up my torso, and licked my face. That is guinea pig for “I love you and want to be near you.” Then he nestled in my neck.

My heart melted.

I thought how similar our sweet Lord must feel when we finally come to Him on our own accord. How many of us cower, afraid to near His throne, even though through Christ we can have that privilege. He seems so big, so mighty, and His ways are not ours. He does things we do not understand. But slowly, as we realize He provides out of love and cares for us, we begin to trust Him more and more. We learn to draw near and rest in His presence for comfort and safety.

Unlike my domesticated guinea pig, we humans can forge out a living on our own. We can get our own food, build our own houses, choose our environment. We don’t need God…or so we think. What a day of rejoicing in Heaven it must be when one of us finally decides to trust our Master enough to crawl up from our situation and reach out to Him then whisper, “I love you and want to be near you.” Let us not then skitter away.

 

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Reflect on It

Posted in Biblical, Christian, Devotional, tagged , , , , , on September 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. Proverbs 27:19

diego rosa- unsplashThe closer you get to a mirror, the sharper the image becomes. You may begin to see wrinkles, blemishes, small details previously unnoticed. But you also can see beauty, clearer characteristics, and sparkling eyes…if you look the right way.

As believers, we are to reflect Christ. So it makes sense that we will reflect Him and His beauty more the closer we get to Him. People will see Him reflected in our lives, our actions, and our speech. In fact, the image may become so sharp that it will be harder and harder to tell us from Him until one day, in eternity we will all stand together with total clarity and purity.

Paul stated it beautifully. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. I Corinthians 13:12.

A few people have achieved that in this lifetime. Mother Teresa maybe. St. Francis of Assisi, perhaps Paul.

However, if we move away from His image’s effect in our lives and let our problems get between us and Christ, His image in us will dim. It will become smudged by the worldliness we portray.  And as we blend in with everyone else who do not rely on His love and promises to find peace, others will be less likely to see Him reflected in the crowd. Sins will cloud the view like steam on a bathroom mirror or breaths on eyeglasses after wearing a nonsurgical mask.

A cleanser is needed to get rid of the smudges and grime. The Holy Spirit acts like a window washer’s squeegee. It may make us cringe at first, but oh, the view will be worth it. And if we daily go through the cleansing process of confessing our shortcomings, reading Scripture, and praying then the more the image of Christ will come into view, for us and for others. Our human tendency for self, stress, and success will fade, and Christ’s brightness will emerge as He perfects our individual uniqueness into the beauty of a godly purpose.

Just something to reflect upon…

 

 

 

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Revealed

Posted in Biblical, Christian, Devotional, tagged , , , , , , on April 21, 2020| 1 Comment »

We read the Scripture passage of 1Peter 1:3-9 in our online service this week.  What hit my heart anew was verse seven: These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

I always took that to be somewhat apocalyptic. But today I see it in a new way.

They say hindsight is 20/20. I often do not see Jesus moving in my life until after the fact. Perhaps I am concentrating too much on the “now” to see the eternal. But suddenly the light dawns and I see He was there all along, steadily working out His plan in the background. I see how He purposes good from what seemed distressful and even evil, like the proverbial silver lining at the end of a storm. Then I  “give thanks in all circumstances”, as Paul reminds us to do in 1Thessalonains 5:18.

What we are living through now definitely fits the definition of a trial by fire.  Perhaps during this time, we are being purified by God’s holy furnace. The dross of our modern world, which once captured our attention, is melting away. We are hopefully drawing closer to God and, even though we can’t be physically together, we are more together because we realize how important our friends and family are and we miss them so dearly. Our values have been readjusted.

My prayer is that during this time, Jesus will be revealed in your heart, mind, and soul. I pray you will, by your testimony of the “great things He hath done”,  reveal Him to others who so desperately need to “see” Him revealed in their lives. Especially now.

May we all give Him the praise, glory, and honor.

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