Promise for Today Favorite - You Did This?

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 

 Psalm 139:13 NIV

A little of this, a LOT of that, and some of this, a little more of the other, throw in a breath and voila! There you are. God made you. He designed who you would look like. He laid the groundwork for your personality. He formed you - gave you all the parts you would need - lined up your days and set it all in motion. Verse 16 says all my days were ordained before one of them even came to be. There are days that thought is a cause for tremendous celebration. There are other days when it's not exactly a warm fuzzy.

Keeping in mind that God's ways are NOT our ways and His thoughts are NOT our thoughts, perhaps we should try to shed a little light on some things. Let's see if it will give us a new way of thinking and an opportunity to give God praise in everything.
For instance -

"That child is so strong-willed!" Very trying for the one trying to raise the child - but if properly trained, a great leader!

"You have the audacity to speak like that?" Properly trained, raised in Christ - able to speak before kings and leaders.

"Why are you crying over that...?" A tender heart, full of compassion.

"You are SO bull-headed!!" Properly trained - it's the ability to focus on a goal and get it done!

Does that make sense? Look for the good in how God has made you. Look for the strength and ability in it instead of what could be conceived as the downside to your attributes.

Ephesians 4:15-16 tells us, "Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love."

It is beyond our finite minds to intelligently question an infinite God. You did this? Oh, yes! I see You did! Thank you so much!

Prayer:

Father,
           Truly we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Help us to see it and to give You praise because You did this. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today Favorite - Pleasing

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24 NKJV

It's in our nature to want to be recognized for doing well. That being said, there are all sorts of awards and recognitions and raises that go along with doing well as adults. We just need to be very careful about whom we're trying to please. And I think we have to be more careful about what motivates us to do well or to be pleasing. Jesus warns us in Matthew 6:1 to not grandstand with our good deeds.

I remember well the days of,

Mom, look!
Mom, watch me!
Mom, did you see me?
Mom, how's this?

Children love to impress their parents. So, what is our motivation? Is it,

Father, look!
Father, watch me!
Father, did You see me?
Father, how's this?

I'm waiting for The Day - I just want to hear my Father say, Well done!

Prayer:

Father,
           Oftentimes, we work so hard to do life well. Day after day, trying to go the extra mile, many times for those who don't even understand or appreciate the extra time or effort. Father, give us a heart check-up. Shine Your Light of Truth on any area that is motivated by anything other than wanting to please You. Lord, when the time comes, we want to hear You say, Well done! Come on in! In Jesus' Name we pray.

Promise for Today Favorite - Doing It the Hard Way

This is what the Almighty Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: 

You can be saved by returning to me. You can have rest. You can be strong by being quiet and by trusting me. But you don’t want that.

Isaiah 30:15 GWT

I hear people all the time saying, "I'm tired of fighting for everything. I just want to rest a while." Why is it that we cannot believe we are able to obtain that rest by returning to God? Why is it we struggle so with being quiet and trusting Him? Why is it we choose to do things the hard way? Why do we insist on making life harder than what it is or needs to be? 

We don't want to give up our "rights."  We want to do what we want to do - when, where, how, and with whom we want to do it. We yell loud and long that we want to be free, but the only way to be truly free is through Christ. 

We must realize that none of this Good News - God's salvation plan with its grace and mercy - none of it is because of anything we have done or ever could do! True confidence and hope are only in Christ and what He did for us at Calvary, not in or because of anything we've done ...even though we so desperately WANT to do something to earn it.

A little further in the same chapter, verse 18 reads, The Lord is waiting to be kind to you. He rises to have compassion on you.  The Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.

Can we believe that He is waiting to be kind to us or will we continue in our own way - you know, the hard way?

Prayer:

Father, 

            Please forgive us for always trying to do things in our own strength. Give us wisdom and understanding to be able to grasp the Truth of grace, mercy, and Your forgiveness. We want to rest - in You. We want to be strong by being quiet and trusting You. Teach us how, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today Favorite - Whole Lotta Shaking

[Jesus speaking] There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

Luke 21:25-26 NIV

There's unshakeable, there's shaken together and there's shaking with fear - all with different consequences. A vast majority is shaken with fear by the frenetic pace of changes taking place - in the world views and values, the political scene, and in the way history is being rewritten.

However, there is One who can never be shaken. Hebrews 12:26-28 tells us, "When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: 'Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.' This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakeable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakeable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe."

The Word of God tells us over and over, it's going to happen. The earth and heavens will be shaken. Only unshakeable things will remain. Jesus said it, too. The writer of Hebrews warns in 12:25, "Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!"

Jesus continued speaking, in Luke 12:27-28, "At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

So what will you choose to be - unshakeable or shaking in your boots? "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1st Corinthians 15:58).

Prayer:

Father,
Thank You for Your Word that clearly shows us how to become and how to remain unshakeable in our faith and trust in You. Give us Your strength and Your grace to be unswerving in our daily choices to follow in Your footsteps. You tell us in Mark 13:31, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." Help us to live by Your unshakeable Word. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today Favorite - Dry & Thirsty

What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds.

Matthew 13:3-7

We've talked before about bad seed and weeds and how they'll grow anywhere; no preparation is needed. However, to grow the good seeds, there is much to be done. And everyone who has ever tried to plant and grow anything said, "Amen".

Everything is affected when there's no rain. Have you ever stood on a soccer field or baseball diamond in the middle of a drought? The earth is so parched for water that there are splits in the ground - splits wide enough to cause the players to be in danger by losing their footing, spraining or breaking an ankle.

Drought is costly in ways that some don't even recognize. There are all the obvious ways - crop failure causing produce prices to increase and the quality to decrease. And unless you're willing to have scrub brush and weed as your landscaping efforts, you have to water, so the utility bill increases. When the drought is so bad, the authorities issue a ban on watering non-essentials, then flowers and flower beds die and sometimes even the grass dies. Those who live in perpetually dry areas circumvent the lack of water by landscaping with rock.

And then there are the wildfires...

How dry and thirsty are we? Are we being replenished and held together by the water of the Word? Are we actively seeking God so that He will rain down His righteousness on us and quench the thirsting of souls? Or are we poster children for the drought? Are the blossoms of love and forgiveness in our lives being choked out by the weeds of bitterness we've allowed to take root? Do we think we can hide the gaping tears in our hearts by covering them with stones, giving the facade of being well-kept and attractive, when there's no life in them? We can't walk safely on rocks, let alone run the race to which we've been called.

Are the fires in our lives fires from God or from the LACK of Him? How do we know the difference? You might wonder what difference it makes - fire burns! However, there is a HUGE difference. Left unchecked, fires destroy completely... unless of course, you are surrounded by water...Living Water (John 4). Godly fire burns away the chaff - the dross in our lives - WITHOUT destroying what is good.

How dry and thirsty are you? I know where the Living Water can be found.

Prayer:

Father,
Your Son declared His Truth to us - “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." As we immerse ourselves in Your Word, Lord, cause our hearts and minds to be flooded with Your Truths. Make us to be the trees planted by Your water and not moved by the spiritual and physical drought conditions around us. Let us produce Your fruit in our lives to feed those around us, drawing from Your well of living waters. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today Favorite - We Forget

Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?

Romans 9:20-21

We forget the part about being mere humans. Do we even truly comprehend Creator of the Universe - the most High God - even though throughout Scripture we are taught and reminded that God is God and we are not? Just as a refresher, have you read lately chapters 38-41 of the book of Job? God is not required to answer the whys and the wherefores.

Ephesians 1:4-5 reads, "God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in God’s presence before the creation of the world. God destined us to be His adopted children through Jesus Christ because of His love. This was according to His goodwill and plan..." There's the Truth. God has had the plan since before the world was created. It is one of great love.

We don't always understand it because again, He tells us in His Word, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts."

We don't understand it when loved ones die - when life goes completely opposite to what we had planned. When there seems to be no wrongdoing, and yet bad things still happen. Well, think about this. Abel had done no wrong, but Cain still murdered him. John had done no wrong, but he was still beheaded. Jesus never sinned, yet He was still crucified.

Billy Graham once wrote:
"Don’t question God because you think He must be wrong; He isn’t. Instead, ask Him to help you to trust Him, even when you don’t understand. God loves you–if He didn’t, He wouldn’t have sent His Son into the world to die for you. But He did, and that makes all the difference."

Prayer:

Father,
           Help us to trust Your love, Your Sovereignty, Your plan even when we don't understand. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today Favorite - No One

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:17 NKJV

For a couple of days now, I've been "chewing on" something I read. It's rich. It's deep. It's more than we could ask or think... sometimes more than we can grasp; however, absolutely profound, if we could but understand it. I'm talking about the grace of God. So every time I find a written expression of it that opens my understanding in a new way, I'm going to share it. The following excerpts come from the book, Grace >> More Than We Deserve | Greater Than We Imagine.

Have you been changed by grace? Shaped by grace? Snatched by the nape of your neck and shaken to your senses by grace? ... Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.

When grace happens, we receive not a nice compliment from God but a new heart... "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26).

The author then goes on to tell the heart-wrenching story of a young teenage girl who died in a skiing accident. The parents decided to donate her organs and another young girl received the heart, giving the second child a new chance at life. The first mother had one request - to hear the "still-beating heart" of her daughter.

"...grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." His death on the Cross. His burial. His resurrection. All to give us a new chance at life. The author goes on to ask,

And when God hears your heart, does He not hear the still-beating heart of His Son? As Paul said, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).

Romans 8:33-34 New Century Version (NCV), "Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one, because God is the One who makes them right. Who can say God’s people are guilty? No one, because Christ Jesus died, but he was also raised from the dead, and now he is on God’s right side, appealing to God for us."

Who can undo what Christ has done for us through His death, burial and resurrection? 

No one.

Prayer:

Father,
           Cause Your Word to come alive in us. Open our eyes of understanding to know Your Truth and change our hearts to be able to receive this precious gift of Grace, so that according to Your Word, we can come near to You with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen