Faith, Not Feelings

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Sometimes, in the midst of the trial we're hard-pressed to see beyond what we feel... but that's exactly the choice we must make. We are instructed to stand and believe, and having done all to stand! We may not feel like it; do it anyway. Let's talk faith, not feelings.

Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to go with what we feel.

There is a great difference between getting bogged down in feelings and having compassion. I'm not saying feelings are bad, I'm just pointing out that they should not control our lives, our actions. Don't get sucked into being angry and outraged. Don't get dragged down into a victim mentality over things from the past - your past or anyone else's.

Sometimes, life is very difficult. We don't always understand why things happen the way they do, or why someone does (or doesn't do) a particular something. But there are things that we can KNOW despite our circumstances. For instance, God reassures us in Isaiah 43:2 NIV, "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." Throughout the Psalms, we find the Truth that God's love is everlasting. It endures forever no matter our feelings.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for Your Word. It is always Truth and when applied to our lives will surely guard our hearts and steer us in a true course to complete Your plan and purpose. Help us to override our feelings with the measure of faith You have provided to us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Reminder to Do Something

"Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God’s, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors."

Deuteronomy 15:10-11 The Message

Galveston. If you do a Google search, it's all about the hotels and vacation rentals and attractions and events. And yet, I didn't find anything about the event that takes place every week. Same time, same location. 21st Avenue and Winnie Street, 8am-9am, on Saturday mornings.

It's an outside event - on a back parking lot, actually. Several canopies set up, a few benches. There are those who pull in and unload their tables and boxes, then park on the street. Promptly at 8am, Rick starts addressing the motley group that assembles every week. He talks for about 20 minutes or so, appeals for a response, then they serve breakfast and invite the attendees to the tables laden with various wares. At first glance, it looks like it could be an outdoor flea market. There might even have been a few fleas...

If you give it more than the perfunctory glance, you will recognize those who are up against hard times, some are in dire straits. All are in need - including the ones behind the tables. When I went, I wanted to fix all of it. The truth is, I cannot, but I can do something, which of course, reminded me of Matthew West's great song, "Do Something" (see link below). Actually, we can ALL do something.

No, we can't fix it all. I don't believe that we can in our lifetime because Jesus said, "There are always going to be poor and needy people among you." But don't let that stop you, because then He said, "So I command you: ALWAYS be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors." [emphasis mine]

Your budget may be really tight, I know mine is at times, but let me give you an idea. Where I live, just $10 will buy enough peanut butter, grape jelly and bread to make 40 sandwiches. Or it could buy 64 bottles of water and 12 packs of peanut butter or cheese crackers. $5 will buy water and multiple snacks at a dollar store. $1 - just one - will buy 6 individual packs of peanut butter or cheese crackers. If you could have seen the gratitude on their faces for just a pack of snack crackers...

"Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity" (Luke 6:38 The Message).

Do Something
(Click on it for the link to the song.)

Prayer:

Father,
           Give us divine appointments to be generous with all that You have provided. Let goodwill, good seed and the Good News of Your Gospel be sown in the lives of those we touch. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

He Started It - You Version Daily Devotional

When the Apostle Paul was locked in a Roman prison for telling people about Jesus, he sent a letter of hope to his friends back in Philippi. A portion of it said:

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Though Paul was writing to specific people in the first-century Church, his words are just as true for the global Church today.

Think about it: Who started this thing we call life? Who made this world and everything in it? Who fine-tuned the universe to actually make sense? Who put you here—at this specific time in history? Who handcrafted your body, your mind, your strengths, and your unique-to-you personality? Who began this good work?

Before you were ever born, God already had you in mind. Before you could even walk or talk or have dreams for yourself, God already had a plan. Before you knew to look to Him or to follow Him or to worship Him, God was already at work—in you, around you, and through you.

Sometimes it feels like we’re just wasting time and taking up space, without real purpose. But—it turns out—God is intentional and He makes no mistakes. To top it off…

God always finishes what He starts.

The story isn’t over. When Christ returns once and for all, the work of God through His people will finally be complete.

Until then, let’s commit to God’s good work inside of us.

Let’s magnify Him in everything we do.

Let’s believe that He’ll finish what He has begun.

Reminder - Lest We Forget

Make sure you don’t forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God, your God, 

• the God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery;
• the God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness, those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions;
• the God who gave you water gushing from hard rock;
• the God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you. 

If you start thinking to yourselves, “I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!”—well, think again.
Deuteronomy 8:11-17 The Message

Lyrics to an old hymn resound in my spirit today, "Lest I forget Gethsemane. Lest I forget Thine agony. Lest I forget Thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary..."

How easy it is to forget where we've come from.
How easy it is to forget what God has delivered us from.
How easy it is to see someone else's sin or slip into judgment about it.
How easy it is to forget ALL the sins He has forgiven in our own lives.
How easy it seems to be to forget the ultimate sacrifice of Christ's death so that we might live.

Prayer:

Father,
           Forgive us for the times we become so full of ourselves that we lose sight of the Cross at Calvary. Help us to never lose sight and to never forget anything good that we have or any good that is in us is only because of You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Reminder - The Big Ask

Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.

Luke 5:27-28 NLT

Levi (also called Matthew - see Matthew 9) was a tax collector; despised by those from whom he collected money. Jesus knew this, yet called him anyway... To me, the wild thing is Matthew just got up, left everything (the Word says) and followed Him.

Think about that for a moment. We hate to see the tax man coming. And I think tax collectors may be as unpopular today as they were in Jesus' time.

What was Matthew's next recorded act? He threw a party (held a banquet) and invited Jesus to meet all his former co-workers and friends. This from a man who had become instantly unemployed the moment he made the choice to follow Jesus.

You know Peter and Andrew, James and John were all fishermen. If they bombed as disciples, they could always go back to the fishing industry. When Matthew made the choice, there was no going back. AND he was immediately unemployed. We tend to panic when we even think our job may be on the chopping block.

What I find most fascinating about this story are the gifts God had given Matthew when He created him in his mother's womb. Record-keeping, organization, the mighty pen. And Matthew had used them in a way that was not pleasing to God. However, when God called Levi, all that changed.

The mighty pen wrote the gospel of Matthew. His organizational skill was able by God's grace to keep it all straight. What a testimony!! Want to take a guess at how many people have been ministered to by Matthew's Gospel?

Even when we start out bad, when we make the decision to follow Christ, our gifts are washed white as snow, too. Levi left everything and followed Him. Would you if He asked? He's asking.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for Your Word that gives us the comfort of knowing You have a plan for us, that You have gifted us to fulfill Your purpose and plan for each of us. Give us Your perspective on our lives. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Reminder to Try It

"I will tell of the Lord’s unfailing love. I will praise the Lord for all he has done. I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted according to his mercy and love."
Isaiah 63:7 NLT

I don't know anyone who has to "work at" grumbling. We don't have to remind ourselves to do it. We don't have to make ourselves write it down so we don't forget. Do you ever wonder why it is that mumbling and grumbling are easier for our human nature than an attitude of gratitude?

It's an age-old dilemma. Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Or is it as engineers would reason, "the glass is twice as big as it needs to be..." Instead of grumbling that you needed to buy all new tires, thank God you had the money to buy them. There was a time you wouldn't have been able to afford them.

Gratitude truly IS an attitude. It CAN be developed. It CAN be adjusted or changed. We just need to look at life through the filter of the Life-Giver. I've been thinking about that old song today that Bing Crosby sang, "Count Your Blessings." Technically, it's not a Christian praise song, but if you acknowledge that everything good comes from the Father (James 1:17), then counting your blessings IS praise. "When I'm worried and I can't sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep, and I fall asleep counting my blessings. When my bankroll is getting small, I think of when I had none at all, and I fall asleep counting my blessings."

Try it...you'll like it!!

Prayer:

Father,
           I will tell of Your unfailing love. I will praise You for all You have done. I will rejoice in Your great goodness to me, which You have granted according to Your mercy and love. And when given half a chance, I will tell others. Grant me the opportunity, Father. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen

Consultation

"Does he who fashioned the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see? Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge? The Lord knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile."
Psalm 94:9-11 NIV

We make our plans, plan our lives, and think we're on the right path. Have we consulted with God? Have we even inquired what He might think of them? But then we want to fuss and fume and question God when it all goes awry...  Or worse, blame Him. 

Let's do the consultation FIRST. 

Prayer:

Father,

         Blessed are the ones You discipline, Lord, the ones You teach from Your law; You grant us relief from days of trouble, till a pit is dug for the wicked. For You will not reject Your people; You will never forsake Your inheritance. We look forward to the day that Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow what You have so faithfully laid before us. We embrace Your Word, Your will, Your way. In Jesus' Name. Amen