Monthly Archives: July 2014

What gift would you bring first?

Imagine I came to visit you first thing in the morning and as soon as I arrive I present you with a list of demands for the day. How would you respond to such an ungrateful guest? I would not blame you for considering me quite rude, selfish, and inconsiderate.

But what gift do we typically bring to our gracious God as we rise each day? Our great plans for the day? Or maybe a list of to-do’s for Him to work on while we tackle our own agenda? What about asking Him for wisdom, courage and strength? That would be a good one, but one thing even better or at least first is this:

Bring the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise.

‘Thank you for greeting me this morning, Lord. Thank you for allowing me to come into your presence. Thank you for who you are – your unfailing love, your mercy, your wisdom, your power. (How many more attributes can you list?) Thank you for how you have been patient with me and how you have protected me.’

It’s fine to ask God for His watch care and blessing on others and to bring your own personal requests to Him. He invites you! But first, bring the sacrifice of thanksgiving and linger on that topic for a while. Be silent before Him and ponder His greatness.

More than your efforts to do good, more than your money, more than nearly everything else you can imagine, the Creator of the universe desires to spend time with you and your thankful heart, Just like you like to spend time with thankful people. We shouldn’t be surprised. He made us in His own image. Begin the day with thanks and you may find the rest of the day follows that pattern.

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
Let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell of his works with songs of joy.” Psalm 107:21-22

Beginning each day

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How do you greet each day when you first wake? What thoughts first come to mind? Are you one of those who quickly bounce out of bed like an expectant child on Christmas morning? Or is the snooze button on your alarm the first thought that crosses your mind? Is your mind instantly filled with thanks and hope or do the worries of the day rise quickly to greet you? Does the morning light bring a smile or a frown to your face? Regardless of your natural tendency, there is a ‘secret’ of living each day well.

How you start your day determines your course.

We can choose to have a ‘sort of’ good day or a great one; one prone to wandering or one filled with wonder; alone or in the knowledge that the Creator of the earth has His eye on you to care for and guide you. Though circumstances may sway you to choose poorly, it is still your choice how you greet each day, with regret or thanks, with discouragement or hope and praise.

The Psalmist says, “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go for to you I lift up my soul” (Psalm 143:8). The Lord answers, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with My eye” (Psalm 32:8). What imagery God’s Word provides us. He guides us with His eye because He alone can see our day and our future. His eye stretches over all of space and time. There is nothing unknown to Him. His eyes “range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him,” (2 Chronicles 16:9a). His eye is on the sparrow; how much more does He care for you! (Matthew 10:29-31)

There is some value in planning agendas and we can put some trust in maps and GPS to guide us. But we can put ALL our trust and hope in the One whose eye is on us as we begin and live each day.

“Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for Heav’n and home?
When Jesus is my portion,
My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He cares for me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.”

(Lyrics by Lauryn Hill, adapted from Matthew 6:26 and 10:29-31)

Have your cake and eat it too

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All the talk in yesterday’s post about bread and cake got me thinking about that old saying, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” But of course, if you have a cake you can then eat it, though you won’t have your cake anymore… Except on your tummy and thighs. 🙂 I think ye olde saying is better read, “You can’t eat your cake and have it too.” Once eaten, it is gone. Wordsmiths out there may say you can HALVE your cake and eat it too, leaving half the cake in your possession. But that is another story.

But is it possible to eat your cake and have it too? And what might the bible have to say about such a delicious idea? We already know that the Word is our daily bread, but how about cake? We have to be careful when referencing scripture to defend our stance. Like the story of this bride-to-be:

The young bride to be was increasingly terrified about her upcoming marriage. To calm her nerves, she decided to have a Bible verse which had always brought her comfort (1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; for perfect love casts out fear”) engraved on her wedding cake. So she called the caterer and all arrangements were made.

About a week before the wedding, she received a call from the catering company. “Is this really the verse you want on your cake?” they asked. Yes, she confirmed, it was the one she wanted, and after a few more questions they said they would decorate the cake as requested.

The wedding day came, and everything was beautiful … until the reception, when the bride walked in to find the cake emblazoned with John 4:18: “For you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband.”

See what I mean? Context is everything! Except for the many references to unleavened cake, I’m not aware of bible references to the equivalent to the Thayer Chocolate Birthday Cake. Still, Psalm 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste.” Psalm 34:8 encourages us to “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” So perhaps it is safe to surmise that God’s Word, while not always palatable to our worldly taste buds is never the less desired by our spirit.

If this Word were considered to be cake, shouldn’t we want to eat it more? And could we eat it and still have it? If it were always replenishable, yes. In fact, it is. It is never diminished. So if we regard the Word as cake as well as bread, we can eat our cake AND still have it too! In any case, eat well and enjoy the goodness of God in your life!

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

Nutrition for your soul

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The bible is meant to be bread for daily use, not cake for special occasions.

The prophet Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to find that the house of God, the holy place of worship, had not been properly cared for. With great zeal he asked the people, “Why is the house of God neglected?” (Nehemiah 13:11)

In old testament times, the people regarded their place of worship as the residence of God and were to treat it with great reverence. But Jesus changed things when He gave us His Spirit to live in us. I no longer live but Christ lives in me; Christ in me the hope of glory (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27). Now we are the temples of God, not the brick and mortar buildings, if His Spirit lives in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). Doesn’t it follow that we should take care of that temple? The physical body, yes, but as important, our soul and spirit?

I like cake, especially our traditional family chocolate birthday cake. It is as rich as it is tasty, so we save it for special occasions. But bread (regular or gluten-free) is more of a staple for the every day diet. Just as food is nutrition to the body, so is the Word of God nutrition to our soul.

Is the Word a mainstay of your daily diet? A sure way to stave off spiritual weakness is to make sure it is! And as for me, I like to eat at least three times each day. Don’t you think our spiritual beings need as much nutrition?

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.” Psalm 34:8

The ‘downward’ path of revival

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When someone who was alive suffers a devastating death-blow, the medical personnel will (unless a “no resuscitate” order was given) attempt to revive them, to bring them back to life.

But what about your spiritual being? Have you ever sensed that you had fallen asleep and had become nearly dead to your spiritual life? Have you ever said, “That’s okay. Do not resuscitate. I’m busy with other things just now.” Or have you felt a desperate and growing hunger to dig deeper in your spiritual life and bring it back to life? At times like those your spiritual heart, the center of your being, is telling you it is time for revival. It’s time to dig deeper and concentrate on the purpose of your life, while there is still time to live.

No matter where you are in your spiritual journey, there remains more progress to be made and more satisfaction to be enjoyed. Sometimes, we look at the journey and faint away, fearing the path that God may take us down will be too hard. Like a heart patient needing surgery, we say, “Change my heart O God, but please work a miracle so I don’t need to go through surgery and painful recovery.” Even those who do trust God, who know His plan always works toward our good, sometimes experience this nagging doubt when trials come around. There is this wondering, “How painful will His solution be and how long will it take?”

The path to revival always starts with pain. It cannot be avoided. It begins with a difficult hike along the downhill path of acknowledgment and confession of our prideful self, and the faithful vow to turn away from self and toward God, our refuge. Before “Change my heart O God” always comes “Take my heart, O God.” Revival doesn’t come until we realize how desperately we need God and how hopeless our life is in our own control. As someone said, “Revival is not the top blowing off, but the bottom falling out.”

Where are you? Have you come to that place where you realize that, on your own, you will continue to fall into the same wrong thinking and bad habits? Have you realized that spiritual revival is quite unsustainable in our own thinking? Let God know. Ask Him to help you rely on Him, to trust Him to give you courage, wisdom, and strength to go His way.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
Psalm 51:10-12

Peace right now

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No Jesus – No peace.

Know Jesus – Know peace.

“My 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 not be troubled. Neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Jesus was talking with his followers shortly before the end of His physical ministry on earth. He was encouraging them by promising them God would send a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to remind and teach them all they needed to enter into God’s presence and His peace. (Words for us today!)

How valuable to you is peace? I can assure you that the more turmoil there is in your life, the more you will long for some peace. If your body is torn apart by disease – or by the effects of the cure – you will long for peace. If your mind is constantly in a whirlwind, always jumping from one worry to another, trying to find an escape from sorrow and pain, you will seek peace with all your might. While you are recovering from grief you will welcome peace.

But what kind of peace will fill our needs? Will quietness or solitude? If you experience Tinnitus, a constant ringing in your ears that never stops, quietness may bring more stress than peace! If you are lonely, solitude may only serve to insult your sensibilities. What about the absence of stress and hurt? That would be nice, but do you know of such a protective place where heartache never visits? How about a bigger pile of money, a life of comfort? There are too many stories of extremely wealthy people who never found peace.

Jesus says that He gives us true peace, not the kind of peace the world offers. What is this true peace that we are offered? He says it is the kind of peace that can protect our hearts from being troubled by the storm raging around and within us. It is the peace that overcomes fear. It is a peace that endures and persists despite our circumstances.

Paul wrote that he had learned the secret of being content; that whether he had plenty or none, he “could do all things through Christ who strengthened him.” He endured plenty of pain and sorrow, including some unknown ‘thorn in the flesh’ that just wouldn’t leave him. But a contented peace allowed him to rise above his circumstances. He found the peace that surpasses all human understanding, the peace that Jesus gives. Surely, this peace is ‘the favor of the Lord, more than any other ‘riches’ you may acquire!

Doesn’t that sound like the peace you want? Isn’t that the kind of peace that would make your light shine brighter within and around you? I wonder what transformation awaits us when we decide to relentlessly pursue the peace of God rather than the peace that the world offers! Why not spend time with God and talk with the Prince of Peace about experiencing His peace in your life?!

Let your light shine

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Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As a boy scout we would have skits at camp. Most all the skits were guaranteed ‘groaners.’ For example, the skit where one boy was desperately searching an area of ground in the lighted area. Another boy comes along and asks what’s going on. The first boy replies that he lost a quarter and is looking for it. The second boy asks where the quarter was lost. “Over there,’ answers the first boy, pointing to an area in the darkness. Confused, the second boy asked, “Then why are you looking over here?” The first boy responded, “The light is better over here!” (Permission to groan now.)

Jesus says, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) That light shines on because the darkness has never overpowered it. (John 1:5) Whoever asks Jesus to be Savior AND Lord of their life, always has light available to them wherever they go. If they go into the darkness of cancer or other life threatening condition, the light will shine into that darkness. If they go into perilous financial situations, the light goes with them. If they go into the dark abyss of depression, they will not remain without light. Whether we decide to live in that light is our decision to make.

Light dispels darkness. No matter how much darkness there is, “this little light” of ours cannot be quenched without our permission. As Sarah Young puts it, “His light shines on and in you, allowing you to shine your light boldly in the darkness.” With light comes hope. And with hope comes endurance, the ability to persevere and find comfort even in the midst of the roughest season of your life.

Jesus says to those who follow Him, “YOU are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14) Don’t hide it, let it shine, His light in us is the mark of a believer. Our job is to love God and love others, to let our light shine in dark places, where others are hurting and without hope.

Is this light of hope shining in your own life and in your response to disappointments and sorrows? Of course we doubt and grieve. That is part of our human existence. But we don’t have to live there. Does your light regularly shine into other’s lives through encouraging words, financial help, or an encouraging embrace to those around you facing tough times? Does your light shine across the world? For about a dollar a day you can sponsor a child through Compassion International (www.compassion.com), write to them, pray for them, encourage them, and shine hope into their lives. You can also visit our giving page here at Go Light Our World and learn how 100% of designated donations go directly to ministry, often in the poorest and darkest areas of the world.

Take your light and let it shine! Go light our world!