Even Though

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ~ Psalm 23:4

Psalm 23 is often read at funerals, memorials, or celebrations of life, but the darkest valley in our life doesn’t always mean death.  Your darkest valley could be a financial difficulty, unknown changes, watching someone you love live a dangerous lifestyle, a scary health diagnosis, or any other tumultuous circumstance.  God is with us through it all.  In the most trying times of your life, your God will never leave you even when you feel all alone.  By relying on God and leaning into Him and his providence over our life, we can overcome the fear that threatens to drown our faith and swallow up our hope.  The fact is, as believers, we do not face adversity alone.  God is with us.  The rod in this verse symbolizes God’s protection just as a sheep herder used the rod to protect his flock from predators.  The staff symbolizes God’s guidance as the herder would use the “hook” end of this staff to gently pull, guide and direct his sheep back to the right path, and/or field.  By committing this verse and other verses of God’s faithfulness to memory we can combat fear and anxiety with hope and reassurance.  Jesus has promised, “I give them eternal life and they shall never perish - no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28).  Inevitably, bad times come into our lives, but God does not change and He will be with us even to our last breath.  He has conquered our worst days, our difficult situation, our stresses and He has even won victory over our death.  I think it’s important to remember that God knows what is best for us and knows His will for us and sometimes we get our own will confused with His will, but He always meets our needs and provides and guides us the way He feels is best for us - not necessarily always the way we feel is best for ourselves.  Nonetheless, He meets us and never leaves us; no matter the circumstances.  I will have faith that even in the darkest and dire of circumstances, God is with me and for me.  Even unto death. ~ Amen

World Choices

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ~ Ephesians 5:17

We live in a world of choices; who we listen to, what job we have, what car we drive, how to spend our money, what kind of house we want, and what type of lifestyle we are going to live.  We live in a time when morals and values are up to us; when what was once wrong has many times been made okay, or even considered right now.  Being a follower of Jesus means I am called to understand the righteous way to live in His will even when the world gives me so many other options.  We have to search out and imprint our hearts and minds with the wisdom of God as it does not automatically come to our sinful natures.  We need to dive in and dig into His Word for the real truths of life.  Time here on earth is short and so we must evaluate how we are living for His glory from time to time.  To be mindful of our relationships and how we treat each other; mindful of how we spend our time and resources; mindful that our faith produces the fruit of the Holy Spirit and mindful of the many traps and ways Satan may use to destroy us.  If we say we are followers of Jesus, we must walk the walk AND talk the talk.  We must make the best use of our time and resources for His kingdom while here on earth and we must live a life that is pleasing and glorifying to Him.  We don’t need to partake in slanderous gossip, but should be encouraging; we shouldn’t work more to line our own pockets, but for the widows and fatherless; and we should be mindful of trying to keep up with the neighbors and instead ask for contentment in what God has blessed us with.  As followers of Jesus, we need to recognize God’s will for us, cultivate our spiritual lives, be ready to act in faith and obedience to God’s will, live righteously in peace and ask God for wisdom to do it all the way He wants; not as the world wants.  I want to be a wisdom filled follower of Christ, not a foolish worldly follower. ~ Amen  

Slow Keeping

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. ~ 2 Peter 3:9

We live in a “quick fix” society where we don’t have to wait long for anything anymore.  There is fast food, microwaves, ordering online for almost anything, our phone is always with us so we can get a hold of anyone and if that’s not fast enough, we can text a quick message.  With our devices, It seems like everything, everywhere is at our fingertips, at our disposal, and we can have almost anything in our hands in minutes.  Our need to practice patience in today’s world is almost null and void.  In the same way, as followers of Jesus, we would love to know when the second coming of Christ is going to happen and we would like it to happen soon.  God does not break promises.  He will return.  It’s inevitable.  However, He also desires all of us to come to Him.  In His infinite wisdom and great love for ALL mankind, He wants everyone to have the opportunity to repent and turn their lives and hearts over to Him.  God’s time is vastly, vastly different from our time and His ways are exceedingly different also.  His time has not yet come because not everyone has had the opportunity to hear his gospel; plain and simple.  God is patient with you, me, even the most wicked you can think of and wants none of us to perish and be separated from Him….so more time goes by and hopefully more will repent and turn toward God.  However, that does not mean everyone will repent and that He will wait forever.  There will still be people who hear the good news and keep their head turned from Him and refuse….but everyone will have heard.  The hope of Christ’s return should give you the strength, as believers, to endure and grow in Christlikeness.  There will be a day when you will hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”  He promises that. ~ Amen

 

Pretending People

One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. ~ Proverbs 13:7

Better are we to be rich in spiritual righteousness than worldly riches.  All of us wish to have deep pockets, but what about the heavenly riches?  Does your ambition for worldly wealth cloud your ambition for heavenly rewards?  One is surely much greater than the other.  There is nothing wrong with worldly success as long as our heart is well aware of where our success comes from.  We must not lose ourselves to worldly wealth only to lose our spiritual selves.  We must keep ourselves in check.  The desire to acquire much here on earth is immeasurable to what God’s riches are and if we are not careful, we can become greedy in what really doesn’t matter in the end.  Monetary gain, when used solely for oneself, often leads to destruction; however, when monetary gain is used for others the Kingdom of God is glorified.  If we become self-serving in our wealth , we will most definitely end with nothing of great value.  If you long to build spiritual wealth then you must make yourself poor, or giving, to others success so that in the end you have peace, love and joy in your heart.  If you intentionally make yourself poor by pouring out on others the kindness, gentleness and goodness of God through your monetary gain then in the end you will have everything.  You will hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”  In God’s economy, to be rich is to give of your resources so that your relationships may flourish and his kingdom can be multiplied.  God’s economy is about giving, not getting.  A truly rich person may have enough just to get by, but have great character and spiritual integrity that makes him wealthy.  Then there may be a very wealthy person who has no integrity and no spiritual character.  Which one is the rich one in God’s economy?  Who do you relate to most?  May we never bankrupt ourselves spiritually for worldly gain.  Listen to this verse and the wisdom about the true nature of wealth and pursuing it for your own sake. ~ Amen 

Love Enemies

But love your enemies, do good to them and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.  Then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ~ Luke 6:35

We all have those people in life who rub us wrong, who no matter how we might try, we just won’t get along with.  Hot-tempered, selfish, snobbish, someone who holds morals completely opposite our own, someone that may even wish us ill will; these are people we tend to stay away from and can’t imagine being overly kind too.  After all, why would I submit myself to helping someone like that?  Have we forgotten that Christ saved us and showed us his faithful love even as we were sinners?  My God gave His most prized possession for me without knowing if I would even accept his gift and then there is the fact that I will never be able to live a “good enough” life for such a gift.  To be kind to the ungrateful and wicked can only happen with supernatural strength as this act is completely counterintuitive to our human nature.  We are called, as followers of Jesus, to treat ALL people well; even those who are hostile toward us.  We don’t stand out for Christ, and we are not the light to the world we are called to be when we treat our enemies the same way they would treat us.  Instinctively, we usually want to respond to our enemies with the same intensity, anger and defensive attitude that they have, but instead, we are to speak graciously to them and pray for them.  We are called to respond with kindness, to give without expecting anything back and to pray for even those who show wickedness toward us.  This is such a tall order, but we must do what Christ has done for us.  We need to do good to our enemies.  Pray that God will help you with this supernatural task and He will meet you there.  Pray that you will see your enemies as Jesus sees them and help you to treat them as He would. ~ Amen

Have Labored

But I said, “I have in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all.  Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand and my reward is with my God.” ~ Isaiah 49:4

There are times in our lives when we feel like the mundane is overwhelming and exhausting.  The daily chores that we do day in and day out with little gratitude from others, but that must be done nonetheless.  What about living in kindness; turning the other cheek; giving and giving and giving some more?  Sometimes we wonder if it’s all worth it.  We doubt, we question.  I believe in my heart that I am where I am supposed to be, but am I making any difference?  Sometimes it’s just so hard to tell.  We may get discouraged, but we must remember where our ultimate reward comes from.  Who it comes from.  My goal is to continue to give God glory and to plant as many seeds as I can for Christ.  The world needs Him desperately; they need the free gift of His redemption and grace.  But in a world that is so self-reliant and a bit narcissistic, sometimes I feel like even my best efforts are to no avail.  My encouragement comes from knowing that it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to turn the hearts over and it’s my job to keep planting.  It is a difficult world we live in, but if we stay focused on our mission and lean into God, we will find encouragement.  We may not be rewarded here on earth, but my ultimate reward will come from the Creator of the universe.  There is always reason to have hope in Christ so as not to give in to discouragement.  I am sure God felt discouraged as he watched Israel falter back and forth from Him many times.  I am sure Jesus felt discouraged at times as he led twelve misfits and again when He was in the garden asking God to take this cup (the crucifixion) from Him.  The Messiah of the universe felt all the feelings we feel and still fulfilled his mighty purpose.  Let us not get discouraged, but keep going on and let God take care of the rest.  Being called a follower of Jesus was not a promise of a discouraging free life, but we know we still have hope and faith that even through our heartache God will be faithful and just.  Let’s keep moving and keep our eyes on the prize! ~ Amen

Count Blessed

As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered.  You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. ~ James 5:11

We all have trials and tribulations in life and James is encouraging us to continue to be faithful to God even in our difficulties.  Amid great persecution and destruction that God allowed to touch Job, he never renounced his faith in the Almighty.  His children were killed, his livestock stolen, his servants destroyed and his body was overtaken with great sores - yet he persevered.  Justice was ultimately given to Job when everything was restored plus more was given to him and God was given much glory.  Anger, bitterness and self-pity can penetrate our souls when we go through trials, but we are called to keep our eyes on God and persevere through whatever comes our way.  Beautiful diamonds are created using great pressure and the same can be true of our faith as we wait patiently and faithfully on the Lord.  Non-believers can get swallowed up in dismay, but we are called to count our trials as great joy as they can produce glorious fruit in Christ if we would just hold on and keep our eyes focused on Him.  Jesus endured the greatest trial of all and God’s glory was shown brilliantly and mankind benefited greatly from his trial.  If Jesus had to endure trials, why wouldn’t we?  And even though we may never understand the reasons for our trials, we can be living testimonies of God’s goodness when we are patient and persevere through it.  There will be times in your life when you will question why you are going through something.  May I suggest that it is to strengthen your faith, to be an example of Godly patience and perseverance for others and ultimately to bring glory to God alone.  May we focus our eyes on Jesus, who is the perfecter of our faith, and persevere. ~ Amen

Serve Masters

No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money. ~ Matthew 6:24

“Just look at what you have spent your money on this week and you’ll be able to see where your heart lies,” my Pastor said from the pulpit and my stomach turned.  The truth of the matter is I didn’t think, or even ever dreamed that I put money first, but do I?  Am I consumed with thoughts of God, or my bank account?  When we are more concerned about our material well-being over our neighbor in need, God may not be first in our lives.  Being a follower of Jesus means putting others first and serving, even with our money; which is in direct opposition to the act of acquiring for ourselves.   We have to be intentional about using our wealth for Kingdom gain instead of our own personal gain.  Totally upside down from the world’s view.  To put others first even in our finances does not come naturally.  All of us know the world goes round and round by money and with money.  Jesus isn’t telling us that having money is a bad thing, but he is making it clear that money and God both battle for first place in our hearts and we must be careful not to let money win; it’s a heart issue.  There will be a choice to make at least once in your life regarding these two masters.  Are you going to help your friend make her bills this month, or are you going to go ahead and stick this extra in the retirement fund?  Do not become a slave to materialism as money will become your master.  Trust that God will take care of His believers who serve God with their money and put others first.  This does not mean Christians who serve God cannot have money, or things.  Jesus is not suggesting that His followers become destitute.  Money for a follower of Jesus, with the heart of a servant, is another tool to be used to further the gospel of Christ.  He is merely pointing out that there can only be one master of your heart.  Make sure you are a servant of God instead of a slave of money.  As for me ... .well, let’s just say I am a work in progress. ~ Amen

Weary Doing

Let us not become weary doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ~ Galatians 6:9

I am tired, I am exhausted and sometimes I just want to be selfish and throw in the towel and think only about myself.  Sometimes I feel like I give and give and give and no one is filling me back up.  Juggling the needs of my family, making a meal for a sick co-worker, answering the call to help a friend move and watching my neighbors animals while they go on vacation all in one weekend has proved to push me to the end of my rope.  Now more than ever, I need to lean in and find rest in Jesus.  Jesus also had to find alone time and rest during his time here on earth….so what makes me think I can do without rest?  Jesus is the best example in always doing good, but knowing how and when to rest as not to grow weary in our quest of doing good.  I know as a follower of Jesus I am called to do good and I want to do good, but we must be conscious of not getting disgruntled, or tiresome.  He didn’t give up on us and we must never give up on the mission He has left for us.  Instead, we must strive to be Christlike - to love God and love people.  To show the love of Christ through our walk, talk, and to help others.  To be the hands and feet of Jesus in a changing culture.  Being a light to non-believers of a fulfilling life full of love, joy and peace that they do not see in the world’s way of living.  And we must not give up gently planting the seed of the gospel so that God can grow that seed into a new believer.  Till the hearts, plant and wait patiently.  Repeat.  Do not grow weary and you will see good deeds become a great harvest.  Jesus will continually fill us up when we come to Him to keep doing His work.  He will reward us for our perseverance and for not giving up.  Keep on planting for the harvest will be great! ~ Amen

Perfect Love

There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love. ~ 1 John 4:18

Fear has several definitions and according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, fear is:  1) an unpleasant and often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger; 2) an anxious concern; 3) reason for alarm or danger; or 4) profound reverence and awe especially toward God.  As followers of Jesus, the fear we are to have is the fear of reverence and awe, but the fear of danger, or alarm have no place in our walk.  My loving God is not to be feared as an angry and punishing God, but as an unconditional giver of love that conquers all and will never leave those who are his followers.  I do not have to be fearful of what may be coming my way, and I don’t have to be fearful of what is happening around me as long as I have my hope and trust in the Lord.  To be overcome by fear may imply that my trust does not fully rest in Jesus Christ.  He loved us enough to die on a cross for our sins, to pursue us into a relationship with Him and to show us His great love for us.  This is not a God who wants to make us fearful of punishment, but a God who wants to have a mature relationship with you and a God who will never leave you.  Often it is Satan who tries to lull us into fear and shame by whispering lies into our ears whether we are going through difficult circumstances (“if God was a good God, he wouldn’t allow this”), or maybe he likes to tell us that we’ve stumbled to far for God to still love us (“how could God love and forgive you”)?  God is with you through every circumstance and God loves you no matter what you’ve done.  Believes of Christ should be led by the Spirit and fear should not be able to take over our thoughts.  Be in awe of God, but do not be fearful in life.  Instead, call on God for his guidance, live in his love and let his love cast out all your fear. ~ Amen   

Tongue Rejoice

I keep my eyes always on the Lord.  With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure…~ Psalm 16:8-9

There are many reasons our faith may be shaken in this unstable, broken world.  Turn on the television, or follow any media outlet and in moments you can find negative information and  unrest in our own nation and around the world.  Senseless crimes, illness, political backbiting and unrest, and numerous tragedies abound.  So how do you keep from being overtaken with sadness?  How do you push forward when evil permeates, or tragedies take over your own life?  Trust.  As followers of Jesus, we must ask for his continued guidance and protection over our hearts and minds.  We must ask and expect that no matter what goes on in this wild world, or in our own lives, God has us.  Even when it doesn’t feel like it.  Turn your eyes and heart to God and seek His ways.  Even when you don’t feel like it.  Putting the Lord first and living with your trust in Him brings much joy and peace even in the midst of chaos.  My heart can be peaceful and full of joy when God is my priority and my trust is in Him.  I know that this home on earth is only temporary, but a whisper.  James 4:14 says, “why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”  I know that while my body may decay and be left behind here on earth, my eternal glory will be my soul once again with Jesus Christ and I find comfort in knowing this is not my home.  My body is a temporary vessel for my spirit that will live forever.  This world is a pit stop, it is a temporary place to bring honor, glory and praise to Christ so that others may see Him.  For as followers of Christ, we have the benefits of protection and guidance in a messed up world if we would only ask and trust Him to transform our minds.  I don’t rely on the security of the world, or my success.  I rely on God’s strong right hand.  I find goodness and well-being in the thick of God as my refuge.  There is no one like the Alpha & Omega, the Creator of life, the Beginning and the End to put my trust in so that instead of being shaken my heart can rejoice and my mouth proclaim that all is well with my soul! ~ Amen