All Year Long

 I was in Grand Forks this morning finishing up the last of my Christmas shopping, (and it's only the 10th of December!  Pretty good, don'cha think?) when I decided to drive through Starbucks to treat myself with a yummy fou fou coffee and to bring home a treat for my husband.  Imagine my surprise when I pulled up to the window and the Barista inside revealed to me that the person in the vehicle in front of me had paid for my purchase!  I was so excited!  So what was I to do?  Why, pay for the person in the vehicle behind me, of course!  I handed the money to the Barista and told him how wonderful it was to be able to do this for someone else, a complete stranger, no less!  He replied, "Yes, spreading the Holiday Cheer!"

As I pulled away it made me think:  shouldn't we as Christians spread Good Tidings to friends, family and strangers all year long?

I think so!

But that's just me!

Matthew 7:12 "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." 

All year long,

We must worship day by day,

All year long,

Tis the season to obey,

May the Christmas tree lights,

And the sleigh rides at night,

Remind us all to stay...in God's presence,

All year long....

-Lyrics to All Year Long, by Larnelle Harris

Asleep In the Light

 Webster's Dictionary has quite a few definitions for sleep:

-The absence of wakefulness and consciousness of ones surroundings-

-The occurrence of dreaming-

-A state of torpid inactivity-

-Death-

-A state marked by diminution of feeling followed by tingling-(example, your foot has fallen asleep)

-Hibernation-

-Slumbering-

I was actually surprised that there were so many definitions for sleep!

Now I will admit a pet peeve:  People who sleep during church.  Not the ones who just pulled an all night work shift and wanted to come to church, I'm talking about the people who, once they sit down in the pew, get settled in for the Message, go to sleep.  Every Service.  I want to walk up to that person, lean down into their ear and shout, "WAKE UP!  GOD'S WORD IS BEING PREACHED!"

That's the definition of 'the absence of wakefulness,' but I want to zero in on the other definitions:

"Inactivity, loss of feeling, slumbering, hibernation."  That occurs when we have gotten too comfortable in our walk with the Lord.  We are content with where we are and have become lazy to the work God is still calling us to do.  That's a serious place to be.  We begin to neglect the needs of those around us.  Our hearts are no longer stirred for Outreach.  Our love to help meet the needs of others has dried up.  The urgency to reach souls for Christ has faded.  Do you see where I'm going with this?

I had to ask myself, "Am I asleep for the cause of Christ?"

I had to ask God to pinch me to make sure-

We have no time to waste, Jesus will be here soon.

But that's just me!

"The world is sleeping in the dark, that the church just can't fight, 'cause it's asleep in the light."

Keith Green

1 Thessalonians 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

Ephesians 5:14  Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

Lists

I confess.  I'm a list maker.  I make a list for everything.  I have a:

Grocery List-

A To-Do List-

A Wish List-

A Book List-

A List of my Lists-

I even make a Husband To-Do List-

Before I drive into town, I make a list of where I will go first, in between, and what will be my last stop.  Yes, I confess, I'm more than a little OCD when it comes to my daily activities. 

I would like to think that the reason behind my list making is because I like to be organized, and by writing things down I am less likely to forget what is needed, or what is needed to be done.

If I don't complete my list on any given day, for whatever reason, I simply add that task to tomorrow's list along with all the other 'tomorrow' tasks.

However, I have realized that I have shackled myself to these lists.  I have become so wrapped up in what I 'think' must be accomplished during my day, that I leave little room for any interruptions.  I leave little room for 'others.'

I become bogged down in the mechanics of everyday tasks.  I'm going under, have added needless stress on myself, and have invited failure into my life because I just can't seem to get everything done according to my lists!

I start each day by looking at 'my plans' instead of what God has planned for me.

God, forgive me.

Yes, I will continue to have lists, but I will start my day asking God what He would like me to do, before I look at the list I had prepared the night before.

I want my SOLE purpose to be SOUL purposed.

But that's just me!

Psalm 25:4-5  Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.  

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Adult Children

As parents, we all know the verses:

Proverbs 22:6-Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

2 Cor. 5:20a-Now then we are ambassadors for Christ...

Ephesians 4:1-I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

Isaiah 30:21-And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

Life seemed so much easier when our children were small.  We could make the right decisions for them.  If they did something wrong, we could immediately fix the problem, rescue them from the repercussions of their actions, because their messes seemed to be so small.  That all changes when they grow up and are on their own.  They make their own decisions now, right or wrong, and we can no longer help them back on their feet, dust them off, and fix the mess they fall into.  They must face the consequences of their actions, just like we do.  As a parent, I think it's more painful for us, than for them.  We have the same reflex to reach out and rescue them from the hole they dug for themselves.  We want to protect them from the pain they will have to endure to make themselves right again.  Even now, I can think of a time when I was 16 years old, and made a decision that brought heartache for my Mom.  It was something I did, and she could not fix it, yet her love for me never wavered.  I can think of things my own adult children have done that brought heartache for me, because I could not fix it for them either, and my love for them never wavered.

God sees His children make wrong decisions as well, and it brakes His heart, and His love never wavers.  God will always be:

Our Restorer-

Our Rescuer-

Our Redeemer-

There is nothing we can do that will ever remove us from His Love and Care for us.

Yes, we will reap the consequences of our actions, but He is ready to forgive when we call out to Him.

As parents who have children who have made wrong choices, I want to encourage you to trust God and pray for your adult child.  God will hear your prayers.  

And because God forgives, we can forgive too.

    But that's just me!

"Everyone has a chapter that they do not want to read out loud."  Toby Mac

Left-Overs

Webster defines left-overs this way:  Something that remains unused or unconsumed.

The first question that comes to mind the day after Thanksgiving is, "What am I going to do with all the left over food?"  Every time I open the refrigerator door, I'm thinking of new and creative ways to use the remaining food so that it doesn't go to waste.  There is one thought, though, that does not enter my mind;

"Who can I give this too?"

I would never give my left-overs to my neighbor, and I would never invite someone over to my house for a meal and serve them left-overs.

And I would never give my left-overs to God.

Or, would I?  Have I?  Have you?

I'm not talking about food here.  I'm talking about money, time,  talent, and helping those in need.

We read in Malachi about God's people offering God their left-overs:  the maimed offerings, their spare change.  (Malachi 1:6-14, Malachi 3:8-10)

Do I want to do what I want to do, and then if I have extra time, volunteer to help someone?

Do I pay a bill first, and then give God what is left-over?

A.W. Tozer once said, "God gets left-overs....we tend to give Him that which we don't need instead of giving Him that which we need."

I want to first give God, what is rightfully His, not what I have left....but that's just me!

God is worthy of our First-Fruits, not our Left-Overs.

 

Count Your Blessings

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.  Selah

Psalm 68:19

In every thing give thanks:  for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Giving thanks always for  all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:20

The first Thanksgiving was decreed by Governor Bradford in 1621 to commemorate the Pilgrims harvest.

Then George Washington proclaimed Thanksgiving on November 26, 1789 for a national day of thanksgiving, and Abraham Lincoln made thanksgiving a repeated holiday and called it the Harvest Festival on November 26, 1861.  But it wasn't until 1941 when Congress passed a Bill, naming the fourth Thursday of November that we celebrate Thanksgiving Day like we know it today.

But even before the 'world' decided to give thanks to the Creator for His provision in all things, His children did just that.  In all things, and for all things.

Sometimes we don't see the daily provisions God gives us on a daily basis because we have either come to expect them, or we take them for granted.  It isn't until we 'name them one by one' like the Hymn reminds us to, that we actual see the blessings, too great in number to count, that God gives us daily.

Every single day.

And no matter what circumstance we are going through right now, I know that when I choose to count my blessings, the worries and the fears and the cares of this world quickly fall away because I know that God will take care of me.  Why do I know that?  Because He proves it to me every single day.

If the world can set aside one day a year to give thanks, shouldn't we, Christian, give thanks every day to the One who meets every need?

I'm counting my blessings!

But that's just me!

"For one who has made thanksgiving the habit of his life, the morning prayer will be, "Lord, what will you give me today to offer back to you?"  Elisabeth Elliot

"Careful for nothing, prayerful for everything, thankful for anything."  Dwight L. Moody

"Gratitude lets us see our cup is neither half-empty nor half-full, but more than enough."  Lisa Appelo

Dust

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Psalm 139:23,24

Can someone please explain to me how a silverware tray gets so dirty sitting in a kitchen drawer with only clean utensils resting in each cubical?  It's one of life's mysteries.

But kidding aside, I have realized that if I don't pay close attention, I can start accumulating dust in my heart.   I allow things to creep in.  I become de-sensitized by watching the News, or movies.  I justify or make an excuse to what I read or listen to.  Have I gone soft towards certain sins?

King David realized that too.  He called them 'Secret Faults.'  In Psalm 19:12, he asks this question:

"Who can understand his errors?  cleanse thou me from secret faults."

Secret faults are sins committed in ignorance,  those we honestly do not realize to be sin, AND sins that are hidden.  Those we tuck way down deep in our hearts that no one else knows about, and will do them willingly and in secret.

King David wanted to live uprightly and live a life blameless before God, and so he prayed that God would cleanse him from his secret sins.

We should desire that as well.

When we ask God to show us what is truly in our hearts, He will.  And when we confess our secret faults to Him, He will sweep all that dust away, and wash away our sins so that our lives can be pleasing before Him.  1 John 1:9

I want to be dust free!

But that's just me!