Fire

Fire

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7

Several years back, while doing some water sports, I took a bad fall and broke my nose. Now it wasn't one of those: "I think I might have cracked the bone a bit", but rather: "one side completely dented in and my nose is in a different place on my face", kind of breaks! J

I went to the doctor the next day. He took one look and wanted to schedule surgery. There is just something about me that hears the word surgery and automatically starts calculating how much money it is going to cost. I requested not being put under to save some. The doc agreed and we set up an appointment for later in the week.

I was facing a situation that I was dreading! But the thing was…there was no going back. If I wanted a crooked nose the rest of my life then I could cancel out, but if not, then there were no options…get it done and over with! They tried to lessen the pain. I got 500 shots and they shot something up my nose to numb it, but I can assure you, when it came time to set it, the meds didn't touch it! I can honestly say that I have never had pain like that before. It felt like the doctor put all his weight into pushing my bone back out. The noise of crunching bone was horrible, I still cringe thinking about it.

The crazy thing was that partway through…he stopped. He looked at me and asked if I was o.k. All I could say was, "just finish it". He wondered if I was sure…again "just finish it". Had I not been able to stand it any longer, my nose would still be crooked today. Had I quit before every piece of jagged broken bone was put back into place, I would still be dealing with the effect. I had to endure the pain all the way through to be completely fixed.

This makes me think about a story I once heard about a person that works with gold. A lady wanted to understand how everything worked so she went in to watch. After several minutes, she raised her hand with a question. "Sir", she asked, "why do you sit so close to the fire?" The goldsmith easily answered that he sat so close because he would only know the gold was done being refined, and all the impurities were out, when he could see his reflection in it.

Wow!

Does it feel like you are walking through the fire right now? Has it only increased in temperature rather than cooled off? Does it feel like you can't stand it any longer?

All I can say is "just finish it"!

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." Isaiah 43:2

Those are just two of the many promises that are given over and over in the Word. Promises that He WILL be with you. He will NEVER leave you. You will never be alone!

I don't know what you are dealing with today. It might be a fire that has lasted for a very long time. You might be standing on the edge, still in the ashes. All I can say is that the promise is the same: He will walk through it with you!

Please don't quit, when you are weary, lean on His shoulder. And when you are finished, with Jesus walking beside you, it will be His Face reflecting out of you!

Grit your teeth. Get stubborn to finish it out. Do NOT quit!

The end result will be the desired one. His desired one!

One more thing to remember…o how He loves you! Cling to him my friend…he will bring you through this!

 

Sink or Swim

Sink or Swim

Have you ever been to swim lessons and watched a new swimmer's face as they stand on the edge of that pool? Maybe you can remember what you yourself felt as you peered into the water wondering if the person looking back at you was really ever going to jump in? Left by yourself, I am pretty sure several of us would have simply talked ourselves out of it! Would you agree?

But thankfully, there was always that person already standing in the water encouraging us to just get our toes wet, then when our hearts would settle down, they would encourage us to come a little further. You may end up holding onto the side of the pool that whole first day, but there was a little part of you that felt so accomplished and a little braver, totally ready to take another step the next week! And you know that it would have never happened had someone not helped show you how to succeed at it!

Never ever would you find a swim teacher standing on the side line letting someone drown, nor would you see them sitting there telling them just to get in, they will be fine. Every teacher I have ever known, even though they could swim laps around me, walked right beside, encouraging me the whole time. Teaching me the right way to breath, float, move my arms and kick. They never sat on the side line as a spectator, they got wet too.

How many of us know Christ? Many of us have for several years! We could easily tell people all about His Love and lead them to the Cross. Am I right? But the problem is, we often just sit there as spectators. Not one of us would ever literally let someone drown. I have watched grown men jump in fully clothed to get a kid that was sputtering in the water. But I have also watched people accept Christ and struggle to stay afloat because no one will come alongside them and teach them how to swim.

We are all called to make disciples. When I think about Jesus making His disciples I realize just how much time He put into them. He taught them how to stay afloat didn't He? He didn't stand on the sidelines and watch them sink…He got right into that water with them.

Is there someone in your life right now that just needs encouragement to keep going? Or maybe someone that needs to know how to even take the next step? Is there someone looking at his reflection wondering if he should even get in the pool when all he needs is someone telling him how awesome it is? Is that person you?

We are all here for a reason. You are all right here right now for some REASON! Could it be that there are people around you that need what you have? Take some time to pray for God to open your eyes to who may be ready to jump, clinging to the wall, or even sinking. You are called, and you are equipped, don't let someone drown on your watch!

Grocery Store

Grocery Store

The other day I went grocery shopping. It is one of my most dreaded pastimes, but something I am stuck doing. Inevitably, my list gets longer and longer the more I travel through the aisles. It is a challenge some days to see if I can get all the way through the store without adding anything to my list! One thing literally leads to another. I remember that I have to have another ingredient to make the recipe that I all the sudden have a craving for. 15 ingredients later, I am set for the week (o.k. that isn't true…I will be back 3 days later)!

This particular day, with my cart loaded with 7 extra items, I swipe my credit card, grab my bags and head home. I start unloading them into my kitchen when I am struck all the sudden with the realization that I have no clue how much I spent. Most of the time I could guess, round about even, but this time I seriously had no clue! The trouble is that just because I don't know, I still will have to pay for it in 30 days. No getting out of it, I bought the stuff, stocked my shelves with it, it's mine.

So let me ask you a question. How much did your sin cost you today? Have you stockpiled it, one after another without thinking? Did one sin lead to another until your load is too heavy to carry? Are you at a place where you really don't even know how you got here?

It's so funny how quickly that can happen. Just like in a store, there is something in you that is almost on autopilot. A certain smell, and you are at the bakery buying a cake. Which triggers your memory to something your friend made and you want to try, so off to another aisle to buy more stuff. Your mind almost just takes over and you feel as if you were in the twilight zone…30 minutes later you are standing in the checkout line with no recollection of how you got there. Yep, that describes how quickly unrepentant sin will take you down.

How many times do you find yourself thinking about someone in a negative way? Assuming that you know exactly what they are thinking about you? Assuming you know their motives because you just know. That little thought left unchecked will slowly lead into you getting mad at them, which left unchecked will lead into bitterness, which will lead into chains and pits and captivity. Wow that went fast didn't it?

Or how about this scenario: your buddies want to go have a good time! (We've all heard this before) They choose a bar, which you really don't want to go to because you know the temptation, but decide you can just shoot a few games of pool and leave. No harm done, right? Well of course you get thirsty, so you justify that one beer won't take you where it did last time. You WILL stay in control. But slowly and surely, the night goes on and on, and you find yourself being helped to a cab, worse yet, that cute girl is sitting beside you, taking you "home". The morning comes, the regret sets in and once again, the chains are wrapped tighter and tighter.

We can run through a million scenarios here. Every one of us has our vices that love to squeeze us tight! And every vice offers one thing: slavery!

But Jesus Christ is standing there, with His Hand held out offering us something quite different! He is offering a payment. Whether we want to admit it or not, all those little unchecked sins that we just do without even thinking, come at a cost. And the time is coming or has come to pay them. Most of the time we don't even realize what the price of accepting each of those sins is. We don't realize how high of a tab we have run up. But imagine getting a credit card bill in the mail that makes your stomach drop. That is what is facing us now. We don't have the "money" in the bank to pay it, the price is too high! The sins have literally piled up!

You are being offered a free payment coupon! All you have to do is look at Jesus, take His Hand and spill your guts! Tell Him what you are sorry for ask for forgiveness, He already knows what you have loaded your cart with. But man, aren't you ready to get rid of it all?

Take Him up on the offer! Take back your life, but giving it to Him. Stop running, stop trying to fix last week's mistake, stop piling up more and more sin! Just Stop! You really don't want the bill that is going to demand payment. HE is the only way to pay it in full. Now it's just your choice whether or not you will let Him pay it!

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn"

ISAIAH 61:1,2

Crippled Christian

Crippled Christian

If I gave you the option to choose between being blind, deaf, mute or crippled, which would you choose? Not great options, right? But you HAVE to choose one…so go ahead and think about it.

Now if I gave you one last option and that being NONE OF THE ABOVE…would you change your choice? Of course you would! I would venture to guess that you would even pay a lot of money to not have a disability. Am I right?

No one willing chooses not to see, or to hear, or to talk. No one volunteers to not be able to walk. Now, there are people that live with it and even have amazing lives, but I would guess that they would change it if they could!

So, here's something to think about: if we would do anything to have our physical bodies whole, why do we walk around spiritually blind, deaf, mute and crippled?

Does that sound harsh? It's kinda true though isn't it? That still small voice that tells us not to do something (or to get moving and do it), we ignore don't we? That person that may have needed a hug or a word of encouragement…do we walk right past like we don't see them? Are there people in your life that you know do not have Jesus? If you have Him, why do we NOT tell people about HIM? And why do we act crippled when Jesus clearly says "Go!"?

How have we become comfortable as a crippled Christian?

I want to challenge you to pray for God to open your eyes to see what He sees, your ears to be alert to His voice, your tongue to be on fire with the Word that saves and your feet to be fitted with a readiness to go win a world to Christ!

Are you ready to be healed? The price has already been paid, it won't cost you anything…just a simply answer of yes!

SUNSCREEN

SUNSCREEN

We are told that we will get wrinkles when we are older if we don't put on sunscreen...right? I know this to be true but yet I make all these excuses why I don't want to....stupid...you don't have to tell me that! There are times though that I put on SPF 4 or 8 just to feel better about myself. In reality those might help a little but I will still be pretty wrinkly later on in life. What would it be like if I wore SPF 80 all the time? Well I wouldn't be tan... But I also would have awesome skin later, no sun damage, and ultimate protection! Right??!!

Would it be fair to say that if we don't read the WORD there will be spiritual damage occur? Yes! You will be left totally unprotected with nothing to fight off the attacks of satan! Just like using NO sunscreen!

But you might be thinking , "I read a devotion every day"...I'm not saying that is bad...but it is kind of like putting on SPF 4 or 8. It will help but will only do so much!

The Bible, now that is SPF 80 kind of protection! And honestly, it's the only thing strong enough to actually work!

So are you applying it? Or are there more excuses of why you don't have the time? What is more important in your schedule that you seriously don't take 15 extra minutes to read a living Word? If I offered you a million dollars and all you had to do was read it every day for a year, I bet you would do it! So what if I promised you protection and help, peace and fulfillment…is that not good enough? It's time to rearrange our schedules and realign our priorities! It's time to make a change! Who do you want fighting for you, protecting you? I choose the ONE who we already knows wins! The odds are better that way! How about you?

What kind of "sunscreen" did you apply today??

Hidden Puddles

Hidden Puddles

I was walking through my barn the other day with no shoes on. This really is not unusual because you will find me barefooted half the time. What was different about that day though, was the fact that I kept my socks on. Weird huh? I am still trying to figure that one out. But anyhow…I was walking through, minding my own business when all of the sudden a water puddle appears. Now, if you are anything like me, you understand how annoying that is! A perfectly good pair of socks are now ruined. I mean, I can wear them again, but only after washing them first!

As I stare in disgust at an obvious puddle, I realized that I seriously had no clue that it was there. At that point, though, there really was nothing more for me to do except strip my socks off.

I now have a choice…be disgusted and ticked off by the distraction or shrug it off and just run around barefoot. What would you have done?

I know this is an obvious statement but…if I have shoes or socks on and step in a puddle, I will get them wet. There is not an option there. It will be a distraction. So why not just run around barefoot. Seriously…what happens if you step in a puddle? You keep running and eventually your feet dry. You don't take time out to go get a towel…you don't sit a while waiting for the wind to blow dry them. You just keep going! Nothing slowing you down!

Can you imagine what it would be like if every time God threw something in your path, you would be "barefoot" and just take it in stride and allow it to be who you are and not get distracted or annoyed at it?

Think about it for a minute. Assume that the sock on your foot is protecting your desired life. You use it to seal in your ideas and to cover your well planned out detailed agenda. You are walking along feeling pretty comfortable and BAMM…God throws a water puddle in your path. What do you do? Do you get annoyed that your plans are not working out? Frustrated that everything you wanted to happen isn't as planned? Do you pout because you are not really in control? Have you found yourself running inside to just replace it and get on with your schedule?

Is that water puddle viewed as a huge inconvenience that you can't tolerate? Or do you instead slip your socks off and run through it again?

Who do you want to be? A person who holds so tightly to his or her own plans that when something better comes along you don't recognize it? Or are you the barefoot Jesus lover who, at any moment, welcomes new direction with excitement and anticipation, actually walking so close to Him that you seek out the puddles rather than have them sneak up on you?

You are one or the other there is no doubt! And the question that is slapping me in the face is this:

Do you want to leave footprints behind?

If so hit your knees and ask for God to open your eyes to the puddles that are all around you! Then just start running!

Hold MY Hand

Hold MY Hand

Nothing can touch my heart quicker than when a little kid reaches up and grabs my finger with their hand. They wrap their fingers around and hold on tight. It is easy for me to guide them, and they follow just as quickly. But there is one problem…as soon as they see something that grabs their attention, they let go and run off. This has happened several times with my own kids, you can almost predict the exact moment that they will let you go. They start straining against your pull and finally can take it no longer, and then they are gone.

Just as quickly as they grabbed tight, they let loose. Most of the time without so much as a backwards glance. There have been moments when I just watch them wander away, wondering when it will hit them that they are no longer as brave as they thought. They stop. Turn in circles seeking a familiar face and then start bawling! You know what I mean….it happens every time! The next time though; I take their grubby little hands and completely enclose mine OVER theirs. That way there is no way to escape!

I wonder, as I thought about this, how many of us walk with the Lord much as these little ones walk with us. Running up to Him and grabbing His Hand, actually letting Him lead us at some points, but then getting totally and completely distracted. Something or someone grabs our attention and sways us from the path we are heading…just like that, we let go. Can you just see it now? At first it seems exciting…like nothing is going wrong. But it doesn't take long to realize that you are completely lost, desperate for comfort and you don't know which way to go! How many of us have ever felt that way? So we go running back to Jesus, grab His finger and repeat the process. Most little kids will walk away eventually; there is always something that will grab their attention. Do we find ourselves in that same rut? Over and over we run to Him, cling to Him, follow Him, and over and over we walk away…

Is it time to stop running? Is it time to trust that He Knows which way is right, best, straight? Is He enough?

For me, I no longer cling to His finger, but rather beg Him to hold tight to my wrist and enclose my grubby little hand in His. If there is one thing I am SURE of, He will NEVER let me go! And THAT is all the security that I need!

How about you? Sick of being drawn to a place where there is only desperation and regret? Then run back to your daddy…He is waiting, watching for that moment of recognition when it hits you that you NEED Him! He has not left you! Just follow your tears back to His everlasting arms!