Tag: Faith

Cloudy Times

Today the clouds are gray and there is a breath of coolness in this summer morn. It is summer, yet the day doesn’t reveal the strong nature of a summer day in Texas. The day seems questionable as to whether it will produce rain or sun and if it will be warm or cool.

I find myself wondering what the day will bring much like the circumstances that surround me. After all, this is the last day my husband will perform his job. He was hired nearly 14 years ago by his company and was recently told his job was being eliminated. Now he waits to hear if he has a job as this is the last day he will work in his current role. This leaves uncertainty and with uncertainty comes insecurity.

When I give this much thought, I feel silly. Silly because who knows what tomorrow brings? None of us really know but we plan according to today and last week and last month and last year. We like certainty and a plan yet this is not reality. The only thing I am certain of is the God I know and serve yet have never seen with my eyes. Isn’t it funny the things that seem certain with our eyes is not and what we cannot see is certain. This is the whole premise of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen”.

Dave Ramsey says that women have a gland that spasms when we worry about the uncertainty of security and provision (ie: money). He is right, we do! Did God make us this way? It’s funny to me that as a woman I have this “gland” yet I also have the ability to trust God completely and know he always provides. I will let the gland rest as I trust God with this matter. You see God knew this was coming all along and I’ll just bet on God to have a better plan when this is all said and done.

Continue reading “Cloudy Times” →

Grow Your Faith

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If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. Luke 16:10

As a believer in Jesus Christ, how much faith do you have?

Consider this, you have a friend who needs money. You loan your friend the money and your friend repays you. Trust has been established and you believe your friend is trustworthy. When your friend comes again for money, you don’t hesitate to loan it because you trust your friend to repay you. What if your friend did not repay you the first time around? Would you loan the money a second time? I know this seems like a simply analogy but I believe it works the same way with God.

As you spend time in the bible getting to know God and the character of God, your faith cannot help but increase. When God gives you a task or a challenge and you go through with it, God blesses your trust in him. He will increase your opportunities to trust him more. This is how faith grows and with each time God reveals more of himself to you. 

On the other hand, if you didn’t go through with something that you knew God was calling you to do, then you’ve not only missed an opportunity to serve God but you have missed an opportunity to grow your faith. We’ve all done this from time to time because of our imperfect sin nature. However, when you miss those opportunities or just refuse to take them, ask God for another one.

For example, one day I was at my local Sonic drive in ordering lunch. I saw a city trash worker sitting at a table. I knew God wanted me to buy his lunch but I didn’t. As soon as I drove away, I was feeling convicted. I asked God for another opportunity and purposely went back the next day. The same city trash worker was sitting there again and I had a second chance to buy his lunch! I have no idea why God put that on my heart but I was filled with joy and blessed beyond words when I saw his face light up. God knew his story, I didn’t need to know it, I just had to be faithful. This little faith step was one step toward bigger faith steps and I pray that it continues because the joy and blessings that come with an increased faith is remarkable. We serve a remarkable God who has big plans for us.

Will you allow God to grow your faith?

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
    and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
    for those who love him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9

 

 

Love of Money and Wealth = Futile

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The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile. Ecclesiastes 5:10

 Ecclesiastes 5:10-20 gives us seven reasons not to devote ourselves to getting rich.  

  1.  Seeking wealth is an endless quest and those seeking are never satisfied.
  2. The more you have, the more consumers around you who care only about your money.
  3. Once you have an abundance, all you can do is look at it.  
  4. Worry and anxiety keep you awake at night, your thoughts are consumed with your money and investments.
  5. The more you have, the more you risk. In one deal you could leave your children with nothing.
  6. You can’t take it with you!
  7. The love of money will leave you in darkness with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

The bible goes on to tell us that you are better off not to have been born than to love money and wealth. Why? Because when you love money and wealth, there is no happiness. It is a life without joy and a life that is wasted. How sad and how true for many people even believers. 

These verses speak to me and I wonder how much is enough? Am I content with what I have or better yet, what I don’t have? I truly want God to be my focus and if money comes with that, praise The Lord. This is the attitude that I desire for my mind and heart. 

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 Here is what I have seen to be good: it is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward. God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God, for he does not consider the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.

What’s more important, the love of money or wealth or joy in your heart? You cannot serve two masters.  Choose the better one today.

Dry Bones

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I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. I have spoken, and I will do it. This is the declaration of the LORD. Ezekiel 37:14

This passage is speaking of the Israelites and how God was going to resurrect them. God took Ezekiel to the Valley of Dry Bones and set him in the middle of the valley where it was full of dry bones.  The bones were very dry and God told Ezekiel that he was going to use him to prophesy concerning these bones to breathe life into them. He did just that, Ezekiel commanded the bones and at first he heard a rattling sound of the bones coming together. Then tendons appeared, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath verse 8 tells us. God directed Ezekiel to command the breath to come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so they may live and it worked! They came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army. 

There was a time when I felt like I had dry bones. I moved to Texas from another state where I had been very involved in my church. I was leading a bible study and felt very close to God. When we started looking for a new church home, it was not an easy task. I could not find church that felt like home and I felt myself drying up spiritually. Gradually, I began to shrivel and I remember telling my sister and friend, that I felt like I was drying up. I was reading my bible but I needed community and not just any community but a spiritual community. They prayed for me and shortly thereafter, we found our church home. It wasn’t long before life came back into these dry bones and I was leading a group of women in bible study. It was refreshing!

In verses12-14 God says the dry bones represent the whole house of Israel as dried up, hope has perished and they are cut off. God tells that a time is coming when He is going to resurrect the people of Israel, lead them into the land and they will know that he is Yahweh. He will put his Spirit in them and they will live and they will know He is their God!!

Since we live in New Testament times, we don’t have to wait to be spiritually alive. It’s a simple heartfelt decision and action to move toward God through his son, Jesus Christ. If we take one step, He meets us there, ready to breath life into us! 

What are you waiting for?

Lack of Wisdom = Room for God

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

It was almost 11 years ago when I attended the first ARD meeting for my son. At that time, these meetings were called IEP (Individual Education Plan) meetings. My son was 8 years old and in the second grade. We knew something wasn’t right in first grade so we held him back thinking it was just a lack of maturity. After repeating first grade and moving into second grade, something was still amiss. After the school performed a battery of tests, we had our the first official ARD meeting. As long as I live, I will never forget that first ARD meeting. In that conference room surrounded by seven other people who were educators, some special education teachers and the principal. I found myself listening to test results that were devastating to any mom who naturally has hopes and dreams for her child. As I listened to all the things Levi would never do, I felt myself dying inside and wanting to collapse. However, I did not. Something took over (I like to call it the Holy Spirit) that allowed me to finish that meeting with grace and dignity.

I went home to my husband and prayer closet. After sharing this news with my husband, I spent three days in my prayer closet praying and crying out to God. The bible tells us in James 4:8 to draw near to God and He will draw near to you. I felt God speak to me during those days with a message of hope. God didn’t speak in an audible way but in a spiritual way. I felt him say, “Levi will be just fine. He will be a leader for my kingdom”. Now to this day, I don’t understand the last part but I am believing God for all of it. You see I have been steadfastly praying for my son ever since those days in the prayer closet. One scripture that I have prayed many times is James 1:5. I insert Levi’s name in the text asking God to give Levi wisdom and I believe God has done that and will continue to do that over the coming years.

Last week I attended the last and final ARD meeting for my son. My son will graduate next May and today we are going on a college visit. It isn’t a big university but it’s so much more than I was told nearly 11 years ago and I am thankful for the opportunity.

I have learned a big lesson to always leave room for God in the midst of my circumstances. This is where He shows up most if we let him.

Where are you leaving room for God in your circumstances today?

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God Dependent by Tera Rabe

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Tera Rabe is my little sister. She recently wrote this devotion and it’s just too good not to share with you. I know you will enjoy.

This month marks 26 years since I accepted Christ. I can’t help but reflect on my journey with the Lord. We all look back and reminisce during lengths of friendship, marriage and employment. Why not stop and think about our journey with our Lord?

When I was fourteen, I had scoliosis surgery. I did not fear the surgery or the possibility of something going wrong. My trust was in the Lord.

In October 2001, my Mom got sick and needed constant care for a while. I left college during mid-semester of my junior year and moved back home. I knew God was calling me to do this. Looking back, I am so glad I obeyed.

Then, a year later, Mom passed away three days before Christmas and just three months after I was married. God carried me through that intense season of grief. It was during this time that I truly fell in Love with Christ. I felt such an emptiness in losing my Mom that He was the only one who could fill it. I was twenty five years old. I felt robbed. I still had so much of my life to live and she would not be there. My relationship with the Lord was never meant to be an after-thought and that’s exactly what it was until that moment I let him become my everything. That was fifteen years after I had decided to follow him.

There seems to be a common thread with those who allow Christ to be their everything. The reality of it is not IF they get to that point, but WHEN. The when is usually followed by a life changing, life altering event. I have often wondered why that was.

Then, this past January, I was at an all Women’s Night of Worship at church. A woman got up, told her story and an at the end, passed out index cards and told us to write down our “take-away” for the evening. I sat there silently, feeling like I didn’t have anything to write and then all of a sudden, I found myself writing “GOD DEPENDENT.” Be more God Dependent! It’s about being God Dependent! It all made sense. I now understood a little bit of why I had to go through the painful grief process and it also set the tone for what was coming later this year.

This past summer, I had another surgery for scoliosis and I knew that the only way to get through it was to be 100% God Dependent. He was there, every step of the way. I am so thankful that He is mine and I am His. My prayer is that you allow him to be your everything.

“I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.” Psalm 63:6-8 NLT

Self Evaluation

The slacker craves, yet has nothing, but the diligent is fully satisfied. Proverbs 13:4

Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

Does anyone despise workplace self evaluations like I do? I really do not enjoy completing a form listing all my accomplishments over the past year. I understand the necessity, especially when the people you report to are new to the workplace. However, it just feels bad! And I am taught by God word’s to carefully watch my pride. Pride can swell up as I start thinking about all that has been accomplished through my work and it just seems like dangerous territory.

I was recently sharing with a friend that a few years ago I was cleaning houses. This was a good way for me to work part time making some money while my son was in school. I love to work and have always worked over the years even while I was a “stay at home mom”. I believe God had me cleaning toilets for six years to teach me a few things, one of which was to be humble and serve others. To appreciate all the jobs I held in the past from an Assistant Vice President of a bank to a Employee Benefit Coordinator of an insurance company as well as becoming a licensed insurance agent. I have always sought the highest position available to me in the companies I have worked for in the past. What position could I possibly accomplish in cleaning toilets? I found myself praying over the families I worked for and prayed for the children while cleaning in their rooms. As my heart was positioned in a place of humility, ministry birthed out of housecleaning. I had no idea this would be such a sweet time in my life and my walk with God.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically as something done for The Lord and not for men knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from The Lord.

What a good reminder to work hard for The Lord and not for men. God has the very reward needed to do the work before us so let’s go do the work with enthusiasm. And now that I have positioned my heart toward God and all He has accomplished through me, I am ready to complete that employee self evaluation.

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Divine Appointment

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Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

My 1:30 pm appointment was abruptly cancelled at 1:00 pm. I was perplexed because the person I was to meet with wasn’t the one who cancelled, it was a family member. The family member left a message that we had to cancel. It was strange. I tried to call back and didn’t get an answer.

At the exact time of 1:30 pm, a woman comes to the church to talk with me. So we spend some time talking about what is going on in her life. She has problems and is at the end of herself in trying to deal with them. After listening for some time, we have the following conversation.

Me, “Tell me about your relationship with God”.

Reply, “I don’t have one”.

Me, “Would you like to have one?”

Reply, “Yes, but I don’t know how”.

We spent the next hour talking about God and how she could have a relationship with Him. It was obvious God was calling her, or “wooing” her as I like to say, into a relationship with Him. God had been chasing her and she finally gave in to Him. He was not the only one chasing her and she knew it. I told her that I believed there was a spiritual battle for her soul and she could choose God to have the victory.

She did chose God that day and what a glorious day it was! I explained to her that her problems wouldn’t go away but they certainly would look different in the coming days. Why? Because she has a new perspective on life due to the Holy Spirit inside her. She now has “a hope and a future” and that hope and future is only found in God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

So what are your plans today? Do you suppose you could be available to God when those plans change? Who knows, God may have an eternal reason for the plan change and someone’s life may depend on it.

Patterns

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Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering. But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them. And they refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways. Judges 2:18-19

There is something profound to me about this Old Testament scripture. Here’s a quick breakdown:

*God raises up people to serve as a representative for him.
*God’s mercy and love for the oppressed and suffering.
*People forget God’s goodness and turn back to old ways.
*People refuse to follow God and give up their own way.

This is heartbreaking! This set of scriptures in Judges is referring to the Israelites and how God reached down and saved them over and over. He loves them so much and is trying every way possible to reach them. In the first part of Judges 2, we read about a pattern of sin and judgment. The people would cry out and God would raise up someone to deliver. Yet time and time again, they would do evil in the Lord’s sight.

When we read this, we think how can people do this again and again? May I suggest that we are no different than the Israelites? We do this in our current culture. Here’s the breakdown:

*God sends his son, Jesus, to save us from our sin.
*God sends the Holy Spirit to reside in us upon confessing Jesus is Lord.
*People forget God’s goodness when everything is going good and turn back to old ways.
*People refuse to follow God’s prompting and try to do life their own way.

Do you see the pattern here? God, God, People, People. We start with seeing God work and move in our life and the lives of others, then we see God when He pours out mercy and love. Then before you know it, we leave God out as He gradually disappears from our focus and we become the focus again. What if the pattern was God, God, God, God and we continually put Him first every day? How would our lives be different if intentionally set a pattern of putting God first all the time?

If you are in Christ, God has empowered you with the truth, the way and the life through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Now go live like it!!