Reminder from a Clever Mama

 

     A man came home from work and found his 5 children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn around the garden. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Walking in the door, he found ...an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over & the throw rug was against one wall.  In the front room the TV was on loudly with the cartoon channel. The family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

    He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel...

     She looked up at him, smiled and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?'

     She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?...
     ''Yes," was his incredulous reply..
      She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.

 

     Just as this husband didn’t appreciate his wife’s hard work until she stopped doing it, I wonder if we sometimes forget to thank God for holding our worlds together...and how loud we would cry if He let go just for one day!! Today, instead of looking at all the things that are wrong, Thank God for each and every blessing in your life whether it’s big or small. He deserves our grateful praise, rather than always just hearing our list of complaints, needs, and wants!!

 

Blessings...

 

**Thanks, Marsha, for sharing this story. I don't know where you got it but it sure makes the point!

Hope That Should "Spring Eternal"

            Webster’s Dictionary defines hope as  “a feeling that what is wanted will happen; a desire accompanied by expectation”.  Feelings are emotions that we have when we analyze our circumstances. They change as our situation changes or as our perspective alters. Desires also change because of many different factors. So even though we have expectation that they will come to pass, we are still left to wrestle with which desires we really want and how best to make them a reality. I have lots of desires…for myself, my family, my friends, …but there is very little expectation that they will all be fulfilled. When I cling to Webster’s definitions,  “hope” seems pretty variable & inconsistent. That doesn’t sound like a characteristic God would want to develop in us.

            The world would tell us that hope is like positive thinking…you wish and speak and act as if something is going to come to be & then it will!  You just have to deter negative emotional reactions & anxious thoughts.  Look on the positive…reach for the stars…your dreams are out there – go get them (as a local insurance company encourages us to do).  In fact, I read a very popular book a few years ago that promised me that the universe is just waiting for me to get the right frame of mind so that it can grant all of my desires! Sounds amazing but in the midst of a struggle, positive thinking is hard to do & results are rarely instantaneous, universe at my service or not!  Sure, I’d like to have a magic lamp to rub in a hardship so that my problems would instantly be solved as my wishes are granted, but in spite of the way many Christians pray, God is not our genie and He doesn’t live to grant out petty desires. He has such greater, more intricate plans than we do!

            God does tell us to hope in Him. What does that mean? It means that we lay our lives at His feet, struggles & victories, and we surrender to His plan. We have to realize that the outcome that He is working toward is not our comfort or convenience but our maturity & obedience. Our hope is not in our gifts or even our manipulations but in Him – His abilities, characteristics, & attributes. He is not dependent on anyone or anything other than Himself, & He has it all figured out. We can HOPE in the fact that victory, rather than just success, will come & He is powerful enough to even incorporate my failures into the plan so that there’s never a need for Plan B.

            No matter what your circumstances or situation, HOPE in God. Believe that He has your best interest foremost in His heart. Surrender to His will, knowing that He has ordained only that which leads to Your best, whether you see it or not. Refuse to allow negative energy, emotions, or thoughts to drag your spirit into a state of fear, doubt, anger or unbelief. Wait, watch, & anticipate with expectation of Victory!! He really can do more than we could ever ask or think (Eph. 3:20!)

            Faith, HOPE, & love – the triad of God’s desire for us! That kind of hope is the only kind that should & will “spring eternal”. The question is just whether you will allow it to spring eternal in you!

Blessings…

An Ordinary Day Revisited

A couple of months ago, I posted a blog on how God loves to intervene in our ordinary days. While we go about our normal routines, thinking everything is as it always will be, He visits us with life-changing power and smashes the bars of our self-imprisoning mindset.  He doesn't need angelic announcing (although at times He has used that to get our attention) and He certainly doesn't need for us to jump through a series of hoops in order to come in and work in our circumstances. He loves to turn ordinary into extraordinary!

I have witnessed the spiritual imprisonment of so many children of God lately..their desperate & heart-breaking situations have rendered them totally incapacitated. Sadness, grief, financial loss, broken relationships, & other kinds of "natural" disasters have locked them in cages of doubt, insecurity, & paralyzing fear. They can recite the verses, sing the songs, & proclaim the victory but don't feel or see the release so the downward spiral begins. The walls of doubt become thicker and the vines of unbelief grow increasingly longer, entangling them to where they can no longer move forward. God's plan gets set aside in favor of drawing away in isolation or seeking satisfaction and fulfillment through worldly avenues. While the results may seem to lead to freedom, they have just added the weighty chains of unrighteousness and the bondage of guilt to the other restraints. The chains may be wrapped in silk or satin, but they are chains nonetheless and the devil has now successfully caught them in his web of deceit. Along with this, they most commonly remove themselves from Godly influences that could strengthen and support them. Church is no longer desirable, Christians are "hypocrites", and rationalizations abound. The fires of negativity and discontent are fanned by others caught in the same trap. Escape is always available but not sought...for the temporal numbing of pain supersedes the desire for lasting results and fulfillment.

This is not how God intended us to live and it is certainly not the abundant life that Jesus sacrificed Himself to provide. The plan has always been for reconciliation, restoration, and growth but it is dependent on repentance & submission, both which grate against our human pride. We say we love God but don't obey His Word. We talk amazing "Christianese" but it is coming from our heads without really being rooted deeply down in our hearts. We attend meetings, Bible studies and church, in order to fellowship but worship, true adoration and appreciation of God, is absent. Our Bibles are dusty, our prayer closets empty, and our Christianity is more of a title than a lifestyle. Then we complain that our prayers go unanswered, our "walk" is stale, and our fellowship with God and others is unsatisfying.

There is hope, though, and you don't have to wait until Sunday or Easter. God is waiting, watching, & desiring to intervene in your life Today, right now. On this ordinary day, He wants to visit you and break all the chains that bind you. He wants to throw open your prison doors, lift you up, and escort you from your self-imposed captivity. He longs to release you from the burdens of guilt, anger, unforgiveness, & other derailing emotions that keep you from the joy of His presence and plan! He knows your weaknesses, failings, and fears but it doesn't influence Him. He has the ability to use you in spite of them if you surrender to Him. Today, right now, on this ordinary day, God is ready to bind your wounds, repair your broken places, & fill up your emptiness. He may choose to allow  circumstances that you would beg release from, but if you let go of manipulation and allow His orchestration you will find freedom in the midst of them! Your life situation may remain but your burdens will no longer overwhelm you, because Jesus will be carrying them. You will find joy in sorrow, peace in turmoil, & love in abundance. On this ordinary day, choose life...choose God... choose for eternity! This ordinary day can be the beginning of a lifetime of extraordinary days! Don't just believe me - Trust Him & you will see for yourself!!  God is good!!

"The People Under The Stairs"

In former days, the English gentry referred to their servants as "the people under the stairs". They were the silent, behind-the-scenes workers that kept everything at the manor running smoothly. They were meant to do their work and behave in such a manner as to be virtually invisible, unless they were called on to do yet another task or were brought in to be reprimanded because something went wrong.

Do you ever feel like you're part of the "under the stairs" group? Do you only seem to get noticed when there's a problem or when you mess something up?  Do you wish, just once in a while, that you'd get a thank you, an acknowledgement, or even a little recognition for a job well done? 

Well, here's some really great news!  The God of Creation, the Lord of the whole Earth, notices every effort, every completed task and every accomplishment. He sees your efforts, even if things don't quite turn out right, and He rewards the motivation of your heart as you do things for Him. He watches over you while you work, providing both guidance and resources. Nothing is too small or trivial for Him to notice. You can also count on the fact that nothing that you ever do for Him is wasted or done in vain because He promises results based on His abilities and your faithfulness.  He even gives you the desire to do what He asks if you want or need Him to do that! All He requires is that you give it your best effort and have the right heart when you do it. He takes care of the rest!

And there's more!  While you may think your gifts, talents, & abilities are unimportant or less meaningful than someone else's, the truth is that they are not!  The "platform" ministries & those that are more visible are dependent on the behind the scenes saints who perform the duties that free them to fulfill the call that God has given them. If you think of an army, the front line soldiers would be totally ineffective without the desk clerk who orders supplies and the truck driver who transports them. Generals are useless without the foot soldiers who carry out their orders.  It takes all of us, doing what God has gifted us to do, to make the Body of Christ run efficiently.  Jesus commended those who we might consider to be "the least" and said that in God's economy they are the greatest. He proved that by serving, rather than sitting around demanding to be served.  New Testament apostles chose deacons to perform daily ministry tasks so that they were free to teach and preach without the burden of the care-taking & hospitality jobs.  The Apostle Paul wrote several times about Body ministry, & how we all need each other.  EVERY part is important, visible or not, & critical to the proper functioning of the whole body. We might not always regard the "hidden" parts but they are severely missed when they are absent or improperly functioning!!

The bottom line is this - Whether you consider yourself a person of the "under the stairs" group or God has placed you in a position of leadership, do whatever your tasks are "as unto the Lord," knowing that He will reward you for them. Our goal, after all, is not to win the praise of men or the acclaim of the world but to hear God say "Well done, good and faithful servant."  If whatever we do results in THAT kind of recognition, we will have truly received the highest praise of all!

What's Up With That?

I hear the phrase "What's up with that?" quite frequently when I visit my sons in California. When they say it, it means that they either can't believe it or find it totally ridiculous! As I was rereading the nativity story, that phrase seemed to pop up again and again!

There are lots of things in the Christmas story that might cause you to think "What was up with that?"
What's up with a redemptive plan would cause Jesus to leave Heaven to come to earth to be abused and then sacrificed? What's up with shepherds, rather than religious leaders, being the first to be told of the new king's birth & by angels, no less? What's up with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords being born in an obscure town, where there was not even a vacant room anywhere, & using a manger as His cradle?  What's up with a mom and dad having to grab their child and escape to another country because the predominant ruler is so threatened over the possibility that he might be dethroned that he massacred hundreds of children to try to kill one? I could go on & on!! There are so many things about the nativity story that to our human way of thinking don't seem to be the best way to accomplish the plan, and yet God orchestrated every detail exactly as He desired in order to do it all exactly the way He chose to do it. 

So the Christmas story truly does bring tidings of comfort & joy...God offers us:

Security - The God that planned the perfect redemptive story, down to the most minute detail, has also planned your life down to the moment! Nothing surprises Him so there's never a chance that He will have to revert to plan B. He ordained every minute of every day before you were born & He is faithful to complete what He started in you, if you let Him.

Peace-  The love that God has for you is so amazing that not only has He made possible eternity with Him, but He also has provided everything we need in this life as well. We don't have to ever feel overwhelmed or under supplied because our resources come from an inexhaustible source - our Father God.

Freedom to be creative - God gave you gifts, talents, & traits that made you special to do the job that He has for you to do in just the way that He has designed you to do it! You don't have to look for others' affirmation or approval.  You are also freed from others' judgments, criticism, & negativity. If you are doing what He has called you to do, and are being faithful to follow His lead, then you can live up to your potential with excellence & without fear!

Hope - Nothing can stop you if you're in His will. No lack, no insecurities, no trials, no problems,... nothing is going to be too difficult, for He makes the way and nothing or no one can undo what He ordains. He will never leave or forsake you and He will always guide you in your walk with Him. No matter what happens, you are safe and secure in His loving care!

So I guess the only question to really ask yourself is whether you're freely accepting all that He has given for you and all that He's offering.  If you're not,  "What's up with that?"

Blessings.

The Cure For “Gimmie” Disease

                Walking through the stores these days is to see firsthand the results of the unbridled commercialism of our country.  As a consumer-driven nation, we have raised generations of children who are without constraint as to their “needs”.  Children’s programming is laced with all the “must haves” of the season. Advertisers have honed their craft to perfection, with appealing and energetic commercials that emphasize the absolute importance of owning the latest – clothing styles, video games, electronics, toys,… the list is endless. And so is the whining, pouting, screaming, & temper tantrums that can be loudly heard throughout malls and stores everywhere! It’s a parent’s nightmare! 

                The stores themselves add to the problem in that they are only too happy to oblige their young consumers’ greed. Every aisle is jam-packed at a child’s eye level with those very items that have been touted again and again on television. The “must have” item is there, so readily available…  “So why can’t I have it?” And it’s not a new problem! Clear back in the Golden Age of the 1950s, the latest toys flashed across the screen in a relentless march! We wanted Barbie, Patty Play pal, & Chatty Cathy, or Matchbox cars, Lincoln logs, & erector sets.  Children then, and now, have serious cases of the “gimmies”.  We want it, have to have it, will “die” if we don’t get it. After all, EVERYONE else has it (implying that 1- I will be a loser if I don’t get it or 2- You are a bad parent if I don’t get it!) And we all know that even when we do get it, the next new thing has already come along, devaluing the “must have” that we just got. It’s a never ending cycle of wanting!

                There was a song written a few years back by Benny Hester called “The Never-Ending Shopping List” that recognized the propensity that Christians have to also get the “gimmie” disease. So often we use our prayer lives as opportunities to tell God all the things we must have, need to have, should have,…in order to live happily and serve the Lord with gladness. I am pretty sure that God must shake His head at our childish selfishness when He has so willingly & completely provided for us. His Word says He gives us everything we need to do what He asks us to do & supplies all our needs liberally out of His endless resources.  If we ask, He gives - not always what we ask for but exactly what He knows we truly need. After all, He sees the big picture, not the limited vision that we have, and prepares us for the long term rather than our immediate satisfaction! He delights in fulfilling our desires and can do way more than we ask or think, but still we grumble & complain either about His timing or His methods. We would prefer He behave like the genie in a magic lamp or a vending machine – request in, demand met…whether it is good for us or not!  But in His perfect Fatherhood, He gives only what He deems beneficial!  He isn’t swayed by our many words, our moaning, or even our temper tantrums! His gifts are always good and perfect! As givers, we should strive to do as well!

So the next time you’re subjected to the outcries of some whining, complaining kid with the “gimmie” disease, ­­use the occasion to thank God for all your blessings & do an attitude check of your prayer life. It should be a time to worship God, present your requests with boldness, & then rest in trusting Him to supply - rather than spending your prayer time enumerating an endless list of “needs”. He already knows them anyway!

Blessings…

Will you enjoy or endure?

The Christmas season has a nostalgic enjoyment for many reasons. There are the "family recipes" that remind us of happy gatherings around the table in years past. There are the traditions associated with Christmas celebrations at home, at different family members' homes, & at church. There are the songs of the season, & certain songs that touch our hearts with sweetness as they remind us of those we have loved and lost, or those who are far away. There are also the ornaments and other decorations, some of which have been passed down from one generation to the next. This is part of the wonder of Christmas...enjoying the memories & continuing the traditions!

There can also be sights, sounds, and scents that cause sadness or regret. We may have lost those who are dear to us and the season brings sorrow and loneliness. We may be dealing with relatives who are ill and wish we could return to a happier time before illness or age took their toll. We may have bitter memories of family gatherings where there was anger, disappointment, and even violence. For some, the holidays are a time to "put on a happy face" & endure, or hide away in purposed isolation.

The story of Jesus birth was a wonder and a miracle in so many ways, and yet as the years passed, I am quite sure Mary had both joys and sorrows to ponder in her heart. She must have cherished the adoration of shepherd and wise men, while anguishing over the ridicule she faced as a pregnant girl whose fiancé threatened to "put her away". The beauty of the star was accompanied by the smells of the stable. The fulfillment of the Bethlehem prophecy bore the cost of a wearisome trip. The midnight escape with her child was a miracle, but the slaughter of so many young children must have stung her heart. The prophetic words of others rang in her heart - the joy-filled ones lifting her spirit while she felt the fear of the Messianic sacrificial ones.

All of life has its ups & down, its highs & lows. We love the celebrations but endure the cleanup. We enjoy the gifts but dread the shopping. We decorate with joy and just a short time later have to pack it all away again. We are energized by visiting & fellowship, but stress and exhaustion mount as the season continues. While some of it is just the price we pay for what we're doing, the expectations of others can overwhelm us to the point of resentment & ingratitude often dampens our "giving" spirit.
"Well," you say, "it's just part of what we put up with to get through the season". But it doesn't have to be that way!

This Christmas season is sure to have its busyness and stress but your outlook & spiritual frame of mind can go a long way towards helping you enjoy rather than endure. Be sure you concentrate your efforts on making memories, incorporating traditions or making new ones, enjoying the spiritual  celebrations, & spending quality time with the people you love & who love you in return. Determine to be a blessing to others, whether or not you have money to spend. Get enough rest, even if everything doesn't get done. (Don't stress the small stuff because no one will probably notice anyway!) Remember, the bottom line to the season is Love - Jesus came in love, so that we can receive His love, return His love, & spread His love to others whether they know Him or not! If that is your focus, the whole season will be a success, no matter what else may happen! And your memories will end up being sweet, rather than leaving a bitter feeling in your heart!

Blessings!