SLOW GROWTH

The spring soil was prepared, the seeds were finally planted. The sun beamed down, the rains came and still the seeds didn’t seem to be sprouting.

Being impatient waiting for those little green shoots to appear, my inclination was to dig around, to see what was delaying the germination process. I restrained myself, knowing that if I dug up the seeds to check on their progress, I would destroy any life that would be coming forth.

Oh, how impatient we become with ourselves . . . and with others as we wait for spiritual growth and some maturing to appear. We expect growth to take place . . . NOW! We forget that growth of all kinds is usually slow. Roots need time to strike downward. New life needs time to develop.

Let’s be patient with ourselves . . . and with others as God brings spiritual growth and maturity. The rate of growth is of His determining, not ours.

. . . make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self control, and self control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. I Peter 5:7

Heavenly Father, please help me to lay my life and that of others into Your hands, knowing that You will bring the increase as You see fit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

YOUR SPOT ON EARTH

As you travel from place to place, are you ever in awe of God’s placement of you, one of His people, in such a very specific place . . . in a certain country . . . city . . . neighborhood . . . and house at this exact time in history?

You could have ended up anywhere in the universe and God, by a certain set of
circumstances, planned just for your and your family exactly where he wanted you to be now . . . today. How amazing! How glorious!

Let’s look around in gratitude to our heavenly Father.

This God, His way is perfect. II Samuel 22:31

Heavenly Father, thank You for placing me where You have. May my life bring glory to You - because of Your perfect placement. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE

On my walk each day, I find it a pleasure to note which wildflowers are in bloom. Toward the middle of August, I am usually thrilled to see an abundance of purplish-pink flowers growing by the lake. They are quite striking in appearance. Every day when I’d pass by, I would be amazed at their beauty.

One day, when the stalks of brilliant blooms should have been at their peak of loveliness, the entire area had been mowed down. Our neighbors hadn’t known what treasures they had growing at their very door step.

We are like that at times, failing to recognize God’s treasures which surround us. These treasures can come in many forms - family members, dear friends, even difficult circumstances. How easy it is to mow our treasures down with our busyness or our neglect.

May we see what God has bestowed upon us. May we grow to see and appreciate each and every one.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field - and to get the treasure, too. Matthew 13:44


Heavenly Father, please forgive me for not seeing the many treasures You have sent into my life, including Yourself. Please give me a heart to see. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

RADIANCE

There on the apple tree hung a multitude of apples. On each apple could be noticed a slight blush of pink. Those apples were beautiful! As the branches reached for the sky, the sunshine had gently kissed each apple’s cheek.

It is the same with us. As we reach upward to God, He gently touches our lives, adding a touch of His glory to us. As we reflect His beauty, we seem to shine a bit brighter.

I’m sure that sometimes we don’t appear to reflect God at all. Sometimes we don’t feel well physically or we are pressured for time or distracted by anxious thoughts. How much better it would be if we could always have the countenance of one who has just come from the Lord’s presence. That’s something to strive for, isn’t it?

They looked unto Him and were radiant. . . .
Psalm 34:5

Heavenly Father, please let my entire being reflect You. Please clear away all which hinders people from seeing You clearly through me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

THE SOLUTION

We’ve all heard of the campus shootings. In my own community within the past two weeks, a man shot a woman and her two children and then himself. A mob of people stormed the emergency room after a street fight among women. A 14 year old was gunned down on his front porch.

People ask, “Why?”

People suggest solutions: “We need more education, less poverty, more understanding, better counseling, less depression, closer observation, better race relations, better medical care, more control of weapons, more tolerance, less religion, better psychological help, more social programs, better self esteem, more freedom to express ourselves”.**

Yet God Himself told us what the real problem is - it is man’s heart.

“The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; He looks to see if there is even one with real understanding, one who seeks for God.

But no, all have turned away from God; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not even one!” Psalm 14:2&3

Now that we know the problem - man’s heart - what is the solution?

God knows the solution and provided all we need for that solution - Himself. As we are reconciled (become friends) with God as it was meant to be from the beginning, there will be changed hearts. One by one, as hearts are changed, the world will change. Your neighborhood will change. Your own home will change.

Are you willing to become part of the solution. . . every day . . . every minute . . . in your own heart and life?

“Christ reconciled (us) to God by means of His death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” Ephesians 2:11

** Thanks to Mike Jones, Director of Child Evangelism Fellowship in north central Washington, for allowing me to quote him.

CALL FOR HELP

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed by the problems in your life? Of course you have. We all have at one time or another.

Sometimes there seem to be so many problems, it feels like we are drowning in them. At home there are problems. At work there are problems. In those you love, problems. In yourself, problems. Being in the middle of the swirling , rising muddy waters of problems is a dangerous place to be. How ever do you get free from it all?

It may be time to call for help. Maybe help should have been called upon before this . . . long before this. But now you know that it is time and it is as easy as yelling (out loud or quietly in your heart is good) with all your might, “Help, Heavenly Father, I need Your help.”

If you lack words of your own to call for help, try these:

“Save me, O God, For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.” Psalm 69:1-3

I love this part - now listen to what happens:

“In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.
From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.

THEN the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked….
Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from Him.
He bowed the heavens, and came down;
thick darkness was under His feet.
He rode on a cherub, and flew;
He came swiftly upon the wings of the wind….
He reached from on high, He took me,
He drew me out of many waters." Portions of Psalm 18

THAT is what happens when we call upon God for help. All of the power of heaven is sent.

God’s joy is to hear our voices requesting His help. Our part is to cling to Him with all of our might and cooperate with Him one step at a time until we are free!

Heavenly Father, HELP! If I don’t seem to need help right now, I know that I will in the future so I am asking for it right now, ahead of time. Please HELP me all of my days and nights until I am safely Home with You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

FRESH LIFE !

One day it was quite warm and humid, as it gets sometimes in the Midwest. The nearby lake looked stale and greenish. Even the air felt stale. All of the green floating bits of plants (does anyone know their name?) made the water look greenish and uninviting.

The very next day the wind came up, temperatures dropped a few degrees and the humidity blew away. Everything sparkled. The sky was a pure blue, trees were a lush June green and those bits of floating green plants were blown to the shoreline. The water itself was clear, fresh and new.

How are our lives? Are they somewhat stale and stagnant? Or is the fresh breeze of the Holy Spirit blowing unhindered through us as we remain open to God’s work in our lives? Let’s open the windows of our souls and let God’s fresh Life blow in and through us.

You must be born anew. The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes or whither it goes, so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit. Jesus in John 3:8

O Holy Breath of God, please blow on me. In Jesus’ name I ask it. Amen.

A VOICE

A friend of mine who lives in California, recently completed his first CD entitled “Western State O’ Mind”. It is filled with traditional western songs reminiscent of Gene Autry days. Included also are songs he has written, all of which are accompanied by his guitar or mandolin.

Recently he and his wife sent me a copy. Because I have known this friend since high school and college days, I wondered if I would recognize his voice?

Listening to it, I could hear the essence of who my friend was and is to this day. I could hear the warmth, the delight in what he had created, the good humor, the kindness, the contentment and the discipline of hard work.

As I was listening to him sing, I realized for the first time what a personal thing a voice is. It is uniquely ours. No other person in the world has our voice. God deals with us in unique ways which are reflected not only in our physical voice but the voice behind our voice.

I began to think about God’s voice. He, too, has a distinctive voice, like no other. As we come to know Him, we come to know His voice. If we listen, we will hear words of love, encouragement, peace, wisdom, joy, patience, instruction, kindness, correction, goodness, gentleness, comfort…and any other word we may need at the moment.

If we listen to Jesus (you know, the red letters in your Bible), you will also come to know God’s voice and, thus, to know Him and His essence.

Yes, sometimes God’s voice thunders as in Psalm 29. But usually God speaks in a still, small voice, heard only by those who truly want to hear what He has to say.

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire was the sound of a gentle whisper.”
I Kings 19:11-12.

Heavenly Father, please open my ears and my heart to Your voice so that I may heed Your slightest whisper. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

GOD HAS A PLAN !

Do we believe it - that God has a plan? A plan not only for the entire universe but for our individual lives. Do we believe it, really? We hear it again and again. Some of us even pay lip service to the idea. But do we really believe it?

Over the past couple of months I have been watching a plan unfold here in my village. A dilapidated bowling alley along the lake was demolished. Piece by piece every last bolt and beam were carted away. The land was cleared. Excitedly we all watch as a drive-in restaurant is being created, nestled along the lake. It seems like it will be a great place to enjoy and make new memories.

How amazing it is to me to realize that someone ‘saw‘ what the possibilities could be. They thought about it and planned it. They talked about it and gathered dreamers and architects. Plans were drawn up and the action began. Within those plans is every conceivable detail - where each electrical outlet is to be placed, where the seating will be, the color scheme, where the kitchen will be and how it will be laid out.

Now switch gears to our lives. The Master Architect has lovingly and thoroughly planned our lives right down to each day’s detail. It says so in Scripture:

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:16

Do we believe it? If so, let’s live in terms of that belief. Since God has the plan, the wisest thing we can possibly do is to progressively get to know Him - the One who made and holds the plans in His hands. Then as we need to know what step to take in our lives, He will unroll the blueprint just far enough for us to see what He has designed next. Then we can gladly turn our beliefs into action step by step.

Heavenly Father, thank You that You have designed my life to bring honor and glory to You. Please empower me to live in obedience to what You are showing me every step of the way. In Jesus’ name. Amen

GOING SOMEPLACE

I left the bitterly cold wind and snow outside deciding to do my daily walk in the mall. Before the stores opened, imagine my surprise to find the mall filled with walkers. They came in all shapes and sizes, male and female, young and older. Dressed in all sort of clothing from sweatshirts to more dressy attire, there was one thing they had in common - sturdy walking shoes.

As I went up the escalator to the upper level, I had a bird’s eye view. A multitude of walkers were marching steadily onward. Yet, they weren’t really going anywhere. Yes, they were putting in their time, adding step upon step toward better health but they had no other destination other than walking a set path, around and around.

How careful we must be not to let our lives fall into a similar pattern - walking steadily onward without a purpose or destination. May we know that where we are going is directed by God and that He, Himself is our destination . . . for an eternity.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. I Peter 2:21

Heavenly Father, please prevent me from walking aimlessly without Your purposes for me in mind. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

GOD'S LIGHT ON US

The woods across the lake were just beginning to change into their autumn dress. It had been gray and gloomy all day until, just before the sun set, a burst of light turned the woods a golden color. Never would I look again at those trees without seeing them bathed in glorious light.

God sometimes does this in our lives, too. Life can be going along quite normally day after normal day. Then all of a sudden God shines His precious light on our lives. Perhaps He shines His light on something which pleases Him - our love for Him, our loyalty to Him, our service to Him. Or He may shine His light on something which displeases Him.

No matter what God shines His light upon, the terrain of our lives is never the same again. Once He has spoken to us about a matter, we know we must listen and heed.

If our lives display something which pleases Him, we know we must continue practicing that particular action or attitude to perfect it. If God shines light on something which displeases Him, we know that we must change - His grace will be fully operational within us to accomplish what He is revealing and expects of us.

If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant as though a floodlight is shining on you. Luke 11:36

Jesus said to the people, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't be stumbling through the darkness because you will have the light that leads to life." John 8:12

But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. I John 1:7

Heavenly Father, please send Your light to me in my life. In Jesus' name. Amen.

AUTHORIZED SERVICE

Once upon a time, a man hired a secretary to answer the phones, type his correspondence, file reports and to keep track of his appointments. He only wanted her to do those specific tasks, since he knew they would keep her busy enough each day.

After a few weeks, the man noticed that the phone wasn’t being answered, the paperwork was piling up and he didn’t know where he was to be and when.

The man decided to watch how his secretary was spending her time. He noticed that she was always present at the office, but that she was busy doing other things - mopping the floor, re-potting his plants and reading manuals on how to be a better secretary. Certainly those were all “good” and helpful tasks, but the tasks authorized by her boss weren’t being accomplish.

Do we do this, too? Do we neglect those things God has authorized us to do because we are too busy doing other ‘good’ tasks?

On judgment day many will tell me, “Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.” But I will reply, “I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.” Matthew 7:22-23

Heavenly Father, please teach me to do those things which You authorize me to do and to leave the rest in Your hands. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

QUARRELS

The whole world, it seems, wants to take sides. In our small village, a quarrel is brewing over re-zoning.

The world-wide, larger picture reveals nations aligned against each other in regard to what is being done in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan . . . . We won’t even mention the divisions concerning Israel, North Korea, the Palestinians, China, African nations and every other corner of the world.

It becomes all too easy to quarrel, taking sides and having opinions on the rightness or wrongness of others’ opinions and actions. The world seems in a mess - a turmoil of unrest and quarreling over boundaries, people and resources.

Maybe, since God knew man’s (and woman’s) propensity for quarreling, that is why in the scriptures He said:

The beginning of strife is like letting out water; so quit before the quarrel breaks out. Proverbs 17:14

Let’s guard our minds, hearts and words from falling into a quarrelsome attitude on any subject. If we obey God’s admonishment, there will be peace in us and around us. That could be far-reaching!

Heavenly Father, please help me, if possible, live at peace with others. In Jesus' name. Amen.