A Warning About Drinking

Isaiah 5:11-12 -  Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.  They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.

 

Isaiah began his message to the people reminding them of the perfect land God had given them when he brought them out of bondage.  All God had asked of them was to care for it and follow his rules…to love him more than anything else.

 

His harsh words to a people that forgot the God who saved them are as practical today.  Bar after bar closes down way past a decent hour… ‘inflamed’  people …hiding their pain in alcohol…. leaving to sleep it off till they can get more the next day.

                                                            

Some of us hide quietly with our drinks….me a few years back….…thinking I had controlled them so no one was hurt by my drinking.  But I admit that I did not know how my car got home some nights. I only thought my drinking was controlled. In reality…satan was sneaking into my life and controlling me.

 

I have chosen never to drink again. I don’t need it anymore….and have realized that I drank for the wrong reasons.  But I try not to judge all of those that choose to partake of a fermented beverage. There is a very fine line between the glass of wine at dinner…or an occasional beer after work….but I want you to ask yourself a question the next time you feel the need to pick up a beverage that contains alcohol….with the intent to relax or enjoy a great meal. Where is your focus when you desire that drink? If it revolves around your needs and wants and not God’s….then you might want to rethink that choice.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I do not need anything to relax or feel content but your love.  I thank you for opening my eyes to the dangers of drinking and helping me to stop.  I thank you for turning my mistakes into an opportunity to help others rethink their own choices.  I pray not just for me this morning…but for all of those that struggle with the desire to drink….for any reason.  Help them Lord to learn that you are all they need….and to never become the out of control people that Isaiah speaks of in this passage. Amen.

Stay In God's Shade

Isaiah 4:5-6 - Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over all the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

 

If we take Isaiah’s words literally here…we have this glorious sight to look forward too. Some believe this to take place in a time labeled by others as the tribulation. According to Isaiah….A literal cloud of smoke and fire at night…just like God sent to Moses as they exited from Egypt….will come down and protect the remaining remnant of the tribe of Israel.

 

I admit to this novice Bible reader…that confusion sets in about this passage.  Revelation 7 tells us that 144,000 that will be saved from the same group. Scholars…theologians….and representatives from many different denominations of Christians could debate…even argue about exactly what this means for our future and what these numbers really mean.

 

I choose to believe that the exact number….or group of people Isaiah is referencing too is not as important as the thing God will do for them in this time. It sure would be cool…and probably mind blowing to actually witness this.  But I believe a deeper truth is offered to those of us that are here right now…in this generation…that have offered our lives to God.

 

His protection and shade may not take the form of a cloud of smoke or fire at night….but he has been trying to shade us from the world every day since we called out to him to be our father. He has told us what to do…but many of us…me included at times….have chosen to eat of the fleshy world like Adam and Eve ate of that apple. We choose daily to walk with God and stay under his umbrella of love and protection…or we choose to do what we want…and step outside of his will.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are carrying an umbrella just the right size for the two of us.  Help me to stay so close that I stay shaded and protected 24/7 by the love it offers me.  Forgive me for the times that I have let go of your hand…and left the protection you offered…and made my own choices.  Renew my passion to search daily for your will and stick to the plan that you will give me….if I listen…if I stay committed and focused on you.  Amen.

Has Sin Become Your Normal?

Isaiah 3:5-7  -  People will take advantage of each other -- man against man, neighbor fighting neighbor. Young people will revolt against authority, and nobodies will sneer at honorable people.  In those days a man will say to his brother, "Since you have a cloak, you be our leader! Take charge of this heap of ruins!"  "No!" he will reply. "I can't help. I don't have any extra food or clothes. Don't ask me to get involved!"

 

Isaiah had one of the hardest jobs that God anoints people to do.  He was commissioned to speak the truth to a nation who had forgotten their first love…and replaced it with their own selfish desires. It is not an accident that God allowed his words of judgment and discipline that God would use to correct his people….for they have just as much truth today.

 

The problem is that we become so engulfed in our sin that we don’t see it as sin anymore.  Our sin has become our normal….and we justify everything we do based on the new normal that satan has tricked us into believing. We even search out scriptures to justify the things we have come to believe falsely are good and righteous ways to act.

 

I have been on the road for the last two weeks…vacation one week…youth camp another…and took a bit of a break from the writing task God has given me to do. God has used the time that I have been on the road to deepen my understanding of the 15 chapters of Isaiah that I will try to catch up on this week.

 

One day I met a young man named Ben…because the car my widow friends and I were traveling in broke down. He drove us to the rental place…and I used the time we waited for the paperwork to be completed to ask him if he were a Christian and where he might be going to church. He quickly answered that he was ‘saved’…but did not go to church.  He felt his time on Sunday should be used for ‘sleep…and ‘rest’….just like we are told God rested in Genesis 2:3.

 

I have not been able to get ‘Ben’ out of my heart.  I somehow sensed the confusion and pain he must be going through to not know the healing support he could find in a loving church family. I shared briefly with him how I never could have made it the last few years without my church friends and family. And it seems that something happens every day to remind me to pray for him to find a church that can help him see the truth.

 

“Ben’ has become a reminder to my heart that millions of other Americans…and citizens of other Christian nations have wandered so far from the truth. The anarchy we experience in the world today is a direct result of all the ‘Bens’…who have decided to rewrite the book and make their own rules for how to love God and the others around us. Every broken relationship…all the lack of respect we see for all the differences in the human life God created…the blindness of our hearts to see the needs of others around us….and the forgetfulness we see of a God who could fix it all if we just humbled ourselves and asked…is a direct result of the complacency we have allowed to rule in our hearts. It will eventually cause our self-destruction.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to ask you to take off my blinders.  Help me to identify any sin I have let become my normal…and really gasp the truth of what you intended for me to be when you allowed me life on Earth. Show me the scriptures I need to shake of every sin that I have justified as okay…because I let my self be tricked into be living it was okay. Amen.

Beware Of Pride And Idols In Your Life

Isaiah 2: 12 and 22 - The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled),

…..Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?

 

Isaiah…man of God extraordinaire…. selflessly lived his life to give some pretty harsh words of judgment to the Israelites.  The nation of Israel had become a proud arrogant nation….living more for themselves than the God who had blessed them to be his people in the first place. 

 

My heart immediately felt a conviction as it heard the words Isaiah shouted to the nation of Israel.  Even though the world has pockets of good and many people love God more than anything….my heart is constantly confronted with news stories of crime…hate…abuse…injustice…drugs…alcohol …and greed than turns good people into the proud and lofty people Isaiah was preaching to here.

 

He called these things that distract our faith idols.  They are anything that is made by man… that we elevate to a position in our lives that tricks our heart into thinking that we don’t need God anymore.  On top of the obvious things that the courts put people behind bars for….money…love of material possessions …. and trust in other men instead of God can quickly deceive our hearts into a weaker relationship with God. The insult to the God who loved us so much he sent his son to die for our sins is real….and causes him much pain.  And once we are distracted from worshipping him fully….we begin to rely on ourselves instead of the God we gave our hearts too when we became Christians. 

 

I have experienced the knock down of pride that Isaiah talks about here.  It is very painful…but the healing that God does when he brings you to your senses is so powerful.  It gives you new strength… like that verse recorded later in Isaiah 40:31…. but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.   A fresh new passion will fill your heart that helps you to guard against another fall to pride and greed.

 

Father….thank you for the reminder that I need to guard my heart against the idols that weaken my relationship with you. Thank you for the many times you have not let pride become permanent in my life…and loved me so much that you knocked me down and confronted me with my selfishness. Thank you for letting the pain of your discipline bring healing and growth to the weak faith I had by trusting mere puny man.  Help me to never fall so far from you that ignore the Isaiah’s you send to warn me to worship you alone. Amen.

Beware Of Meaningless Offerings And Worship

Isaiah 1:11-13 -  "The multitude of your sacrifices-- what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.  When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?  Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-- I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

 

Isaiah…mighty prophet of God.  He was so tuned in to God that he used him to speak important messages of conviction….hope…and renewal to all the people around him that had lost their way.  Jerusalem…once a strong city…fortified by the love they had for God…had fallen to idols.  They had all turned away from God…and the blessings he wanted to give them.

 

He calls them out on the meaningless offerings they were bringing to sacrifice in the Temple.  The routines established in their lives were still being kept…but their hearts wore blindfolds as they offered the lambs and blood required to cover their sins.  They were so blind to the sin in their lives…they did not see it at all.

 

When Jesus came…he called them Hypocrites.  In Matthew 23 he speaks adamantly  about their need to be more concerned with their hearts intentions than the end result and routines of worship.  He said that they did what they did…just for other people to see. He said that their actions spoke so loud to the father….that whatever tithe…prayers…and public displays of giving to others was wasted.

 

I needed the reminder to be careful that my own prayers and times of worship don’t become mere routines.  Hypocrisy is only a breath away…we have to constantly make sure that what we say matches what we do.  AND…we have to be sure that we are doing it to glorify God…and not make ourselves feel better…or look good to others around us.

 

I know I am not supposed to judge…but I sure do see this world drifting toward the same mind set as Isaiah dealt with.  The news is full of stories of drugs….theft…and abuse.  The idols of money…fame…and material possessions might have changed…but the results are the same.  God is disappointed with our hearts….for turning to the things of this world…instead of letting our hearts be content  in his love. 

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you are to be the most important thing in my life.  Forgive me for any sins I have failed to recognize…and feel remorse for.  Convict me even now of anything that keeps me from hearing your voice like Isaiah did. Show me how to be so in tune to you…that you can use me as you did him.  Amen.

True Love Is Defined By What We Say And Do....24/7

Song Of Solomon 8:6-7 -  Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.  Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.

 

Solomon ends his great poem by reminding us of the qualities of true love.  It is sealed permanently…. until death. It is stronger than the mightiest fire ever built. It cannot be washed away by any river of hardship or pain.  It is freely given…not bought for any price.  True love roots itself so deep within the heart that nothing can ever change its commitment.

 

Paul adds some great details to Solomon’s great description in 1 Corinthians 13.  He says that love is also patient…kind…forgiving…. and does not understand the concept of bitterness and jealously.  He broadens the concept of Solomon’s love poem to include all people….saying that once we accept God into our lives…we should love others more than we love ourselves.

 

Paul says that if we never understand and show this type of love that we are just clanging cymbals…shouting mere words at people. He says this type of love should rule everything we do…every decision that we make….24/7.

 

I admit that I have fallen short of this goal….more times than I care to admit.  I also admit that God has forgiven me way more than I have forgiven others…but that is another cool thing about love.  It’s forgiven erases the wrongs and gives us as many do overs as we need to get it right.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to redefine my concept of love.  Forgive me for the times I have failed to love others the way you love me.  Help me to be more patient…kind…forgiving…and allow you to shape my heart into a vessel that can love the way you love all of us.  Amen.

Memories....Good Or Bad...Help us Heal

Song Of Solomon 7:1-2 -  How beautiful your sandaled feet, O prince's daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands.  Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies.

 

Solomon continues his vivid description of the one he loves. His language is quite erotic …describing every crevice of her body as a thing of beauty.  His excitement is matched by his lover….who wants him to visit the place where they first met….and keep the memories of their meeting fresh in his mind.

 

I will be honest and tell you that this chapter was the hardest one yet for me to read. It is both a stark reminder of what I lost when my second husband died…..and a reminder of the failure of my first marriage that ended in divorce.  I struggle to find a relevance to my current state of ‘singleness.’  I hesitated to even write this morning….asking for prayer from a friend before I even began.

 

Perhaps it is good to remember the successes and failures in our life.  They serve as both lessons of what we did wrong…so we can fix them….and pats on the back of what we did right…so we can celebrate.  As I reflect….even though my first marriage of thirty years ultimately failed…God blessed me with three great children and a grandchild….and many memories of good times shared.  And even though my second marriage was so short….It was also filled with so many good memories that will fill my heart and soul forever with a wonderful love that healed me and taught me to lean on God again for what I needed.

 

The Bible does say in Romans 8:28 …. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” That tells me that even though my memories might make me sad at times…everything that God has allowed to happen to me…good or bad….is shaping me into something that he can use to lead others to Christ.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that everything that has happened in my life has been for my good.  Help me to use my memories to be stronger and wiser.  Show me how to take the sadness that surfaces from time to time into a something that you can use to help others.  Help me to never hesitate to dig deeply into my emotions…but let you always go with me….and show me how to use them to heal the pain they have caused. Amen.

Fully Belong To God

Song Of Solomon 6:1-3 -  Where has your lover gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him with you?  My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies.

 

Solomon s careful to let us know how highly esteemed the Shulamite woman is that he has fallen so deeply for. All of his haram respect and love her like he does. When he leaves to check on one of his gardens…they all offer to go down and help her find him.

 

Something caught my attention as I read this chapter. The woman says that they … ‘belong to each other’.  Her attraction to him is not merely physical…but spans the wide array of emotions…linking them heart….soul…and body to each other.

 

Once again….since I have no mate to belong too….I find myself thinking about the love I should have for the father.  I have entertained the thought that I belong to him before.  All I have is from him and should be used to glorify him.   But I never really thought that God belonged to me. But I guess that is one way to understand how very much he loves us.  He is always there…ready to do what I need...he has ever let me down. He loved me so much that he gave his son to die to save my sins.

 

Jesus told us himself in Luke 10:27…. “He answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.”  He loves us that way…so it just makes sense for us to love him the same way.  I can’t think of a better thing to share with others than this great love that is so much deeper than I have ever realized before.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that a relationship is a two way street. I belong to you…and you belong to me.  Help me to use the deep love you give me each day to help others.  Show me how to share you so that the most people around me can benefit from knowing you. Amen.

Hesitation Causes Scars

Song Of Solomon 5:2-4 -  I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My lover is knocking: "Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night."  I have taken off my robe-- must I put it on again? I have washed my feet-- must I soil them again?  My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him

 

Solomon continues his poem of love by describing the hesitation his lover had when he came to visit one night.  She had already fallen asleep and was hesitant to get up at first.  But as she hesitated…her heart leapt so hard inside her chest ….she could not stop herself from opening the door.

 

 

The sad thing is….she waited too long.  He was gone when she finally went to let him in.  She had to go searching for him…in the dangerous streets….in the middle of the night.  The poem says she was even hurt by the city guards in the end.

 

It occurred to me…since my single brain has trouble relating to this scenario in a relationship sort of way…that I could apply her hesitant attitude to the way we are with God sometimes. He knocks at the door to our heart all the time. Sometimes we are so focused on our own desires and worries that we don’t hear him at all. Sometimes we hear him plainly…but talk ourselves into ignoring him.  Sometimes we even convince ourselves it isn’t God at all.

 

Maybe that’s one reason God allows us to be wounded so many times in life. The scars from these wounds are the natural consequences of the times we hesitated or ignored his voice. He knew our stubborn heart needed the hard lesson he allowed to teach us what he was going to whisper gently in our ear when he knocked gently on our heart.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I should always be ready to listen for you to knock at my heart’s door.  Help me to know the sound of your knock so well that I never ignore it.  Help me to never be afraid to answer your knock…so you can tell me what you need too…and prevent any new scars because I let my stubborn flesh hesitate too long.  Amen.

A Call To Purity

Song Of Solomon 4:12 -15 -You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.  Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.  You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.

 

Solomon pours out his heart to this one he loves.  He praises everything about her.   He describes what he loves about her from the top of his head to the bottom of her feet.   He likens her to a locked garden….with a well of flowing water.

 

Perhaps the locked terminology refers to her virginity…. her pureness until the marriage bed.  A rare thing in today’s world for sure….but not an impossible thing to reinstate in today’s youth….or older adults that find themselves still single…or single again.  A plain…simple message for all of us that are sometimes tempted to get caught up in the physical pleasures of intimacy before we are joined in marriage.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that my purity is important. Help me to continue to value the pureness that Solomon valued. Amen.

Chase After God Till You Find HIm

Song Of Solomon 3:1-2 -  All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.  I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him.

 

Solomon’s poem continues as we hear from the woman he wrote about.  Her predicament is that she must wait each night to see if he will come to her…for he has other choices in his haram. This night…she can’t wait any longer and goes out looking for him.

 

I know that this poem is about the love between a man and woman...and how they just can’t stand being apart….but it strikes me as a read it…that we should have the same relationship with God the father.  I should not be able to rest until I have visited with him…..and I should go out looking for him …and not stop till I find him.

 

It seems that most of the time…my relationship with God is the exact opposite.  The world distracts me with so much that I don’t even remember him till it is time to pick up my Bible at night…or sit at the computer to write a daily devotional…or walk into his sanctuary to worship with my friends.

 

Shame on me…..for letting God be the one who always chases me.  He is the girl in the poem for me…he never stops until he finds me...and gets my attention.  How very blessed I am to have someone who loves me so much.  Surely he can find a way to convince my heart to chase after him for a while.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I am loved by you.  Forgive me for taking that fact for granted so many days…and help me to find a way to love you as much as you love me.  Teach me how to chase after you…and not stop till I find you.  Amen.

Be The Lily Among The Thorns

Song Of Solomon 2:1-2 - Beloved - I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. Lover -  Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.

 

Solomon continues his poem of love to the maiden that has caught his eye.  She is not like the other women of his huge haram….this one has stirred his heart as no other before. This one has caused his heart to leap inside him.  This one has stirred his creative spirit…enough to compose this poem.

 

Solomon speaks a truth that I sure needed to hear this morning. I feel so ordinary among the many single women that populate the Earth.  I am a common rose of Sharon …or a simple lily…a plain Jane with a few extra pounds from her love of eating and her despise of exercise.

 

Perhaps I am to be singe for a season…Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:7…. ^“ Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.”   That reminds me that is a true gift of God to be content in a life with no mate….giving yourself completely to what God has called you to do with no other distractions.

 

One thing is for sure….if and when he does bless me with another relationship …it will be like this one between Solomon and his lover.  He will see this plain Jane…55 year old battered woman with scars from divorce and the death of her second husband as a beautiful lily…that shed her thorns to keep searching for purpose in the tragedies that God allowed in her life to teach her how to be closer to him.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you have a beautiful plan for my life.  Forgive me for the pity parties I sometimes invite my own tears too…when I am feeling lonely and unloved.  Help me to find contentment in this season of singleness…and use it to help you encourage others like me who are struggling with the loss in their lives. Help me to keep searching for purpose in my pain…and turn the pain into another lesson in how to be closer to you. Amen.

The Truest Form of Love

Song Of Solomon 1:7-8 -  Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?  If you do not know, most beautiful of women, follow the tracks of the sheep and graze your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.

 

Song Of Solomon…an intimate poem…even provocative at times…written by the wisest king ever to live. It models for us the truest form of love…between a man and woman…who wait till their wedding bed to share the physical and emotional bond of sex.

 

It is a hard book for me to read….finding myself single…not once after a divorce…but twice after my second love was called too soon to Heaven. I procrastinated this morning…doing silly things to waste time…not readily seeing what this book could offer the single woman. All my heart could do was reflect on the failure of my first marriage…..and long for more time with the second.

 

Perhaps the reminder this morning….is that I need to focus more on the present…and what God has to offer me as a single woman. It is a call to stay pure…to stay more focused on God than searching for a mate. It is a call to wait ...perhaps there will be another one that I long to follow to a field.  Perhaps God will let someone look my way and want me like Solomon wanted her. It is a call to leave the past in the past and look forward to the future of hope that God has planned for me.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you have forgiven me for the mistakes of the past.   Thank you for the 30 years with my children’s father…for I love the three wonderful children we had very much.Thank you for letting me experience the wonderful love of Mitchell…for I might not have had any time with him at all. Forgive me for living too much in the past.  Help me to live in the present….and keep my eyes and ears ….and heart focused on you.  Amen.

The Conclusion Of The Matter.....

Ecclesiastes 12:11-13 -  The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails--given by one Shepherd.  Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.  Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

 

Even the wise Solomon knew that he wasn’t the only person people were reading those days. His books are just a few in the whole of the Bible...and the Bible is just one book among many that have been published over the years. So his last chapter in this book tells us to be careful with any words we read outside of the words inspired by God.

 

He tells us our only duty is to fear God and keep his commandments…and that is only completed if we know those commandments fully.  He admitted that study of those rules would weary us.  He knew that we would be tempted to pull scriptures out of context to justify doing what we want. He even warned us to be careful of the many books that would be written to try and confuse us.

 

2 Timothy 2:15 tells us… “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be  ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  That reminds me that I should not only read the Bible….but really study it….to know what it says.  I need to know it well enough that I don’t have to use google to find the reference.  I need to know it well enough that it will fill my mind with the right thing to do …every time I am faced with a decision….like it did Jesus when he was tempted in the wilderness. 

 

Father….thank you for the reminder that I need to step up my study of your word.  Forgive me for the times I have justified my short times reading you word…or the few minutes I spend writing about it each day…as enough to really know it well enough to let it rule my life.  Help me to find time to really study...to memorize…to place your word so deep within my heart and soul that nothing can ever take it away from me.  Give your word so much meaning in my life that it comes off the pages and helps me to transform who I am into a servant you can use to change others.  Amen.

Walk By Faith....Not By Sight

Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 -  Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.  As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.  Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.  

 

Solomon leaves us a reminder that faith and total trust in God is an important part of a focused relationship with him.  God created the world in such a complex manner…we will never understand many of the ways it works. Just as life is breathed into a baby from inside her body… God breathes understanding into our soul best when we walk by faith.

 

It is a great reminder to me that if I wait for everything to be in place that I think should be there….I might miss one of the greatest blessings God has prepared for me. If I wait for perfect conditions…I might leave quite a bit undone. Paul agreed with Solomon.  He told us in 2 Corinthians 5:7 to walk by faith…not sight. 

 

Perhaps part of the reason we need to walk more by faith is to show our commitment to God. We must be prepared to do what God says…no matter what we think.  Abraham must have been completely confused inside….making the trek to the mountains to sacrifice the one son God had promised for so long. He must have worshiped like never before when that angel stopped his hand…and they saw the lamb stuck in the brush close by.

 

I sure needed the reminder today…to be ready to walk more by faith….and just roll with the flow of life…whatever it brings.  Romans 8:28 says…. “ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  That means if I keep my eyes …and my heart….and my ears….focused on God…..my feet and hands will quickly respond to his voice when he speaks. 

 

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to walk more by faith.  Forgive me for the time that I have let my flesh guide my feet and hands.  Put some blinders on my eyes…so I will see you only.  Put a filter on my ears…so I will hear your voice more clearly.  Put a new passion in my heart to be what you want me to me…so the world can’t trick me so easily.   Amen.

Risk Isn't Risky ....If God Is by Your Side

Ecclesiastes 10: 8-10 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.  Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.  If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success.

 

Solomon reminds us in this chapter that there is an element of risk in everything we attempt to do.  Even sitting and doing nothing is risky because it leaves us with no skill at all.  Only hard work that is ordained by God will bring any sort of success.

 

I am guilty if not trying sometimes because I feel ill-equipped to do what I think he wants me to do.  I stammer like Moses and make excuses after excuses.  God just listened and let Moses vent…then he asked him what he held in his hand at that moment. The simple wooden rod he proclaimed to be nothing…became a powerful tool of authority and freedom for Moses as he realized that God would be right by his side the whole mission God was sending him on.

 

God tells us in Hebrews 13:21 that he would give us what we need to do what he calls us to do. I need to embrace that promise this morning as I end another year at my teaching job…and consider what plans he has for me this summer. I am sure I have what I need to be confident and successful if I make sure it is sharpened with prayer and the study of God’s word.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I am to be busy doing your work every day. Help me to build a confidence in you that will prevent me from shying away from a task I think I cannot do.  Give me the wisdom to see the same vision you see…so I can stay in  the center of your will for my life…and be the most effective servant I can be. Amen.

God's Love is The Cure For Hopelessness

Ecclesiastes 9:3 - It seems so tragic that one fate comes to all. That is why people are not more careful to be good. Instead, they choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.

 

Solomon sneaks a verse into this chapter that helps explain the reason people who don’t believe in God have no hope.  They see only the earthly time we spend on the Earth…they have no vision of God’s future for their lives.

 

Those of us that believe in God can claim the promise of Jeremiah 29:11…. “For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  We know that this earth is only a temporary place to live…while God prepares our place in Heaven.

 

It reminds me how important it is to tell others about God. We might be their only chance to hear about the great love of God that will change their outlook on the hopelessness they feel without him.  It reminds me that my priorities should be finding ways to share the great things God has done for me…just because he loves me.

 

Father…..thank you for taking away the hopelessness I felt before knew you.  Forgive me for taking your love and promise of hope for granted some days…and not sharing it with others.  Help me to find ways to share your love….so others can shed teir hopelessness too. Amen.