Promise for Today - Source of Hope

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:12 NLT

Simply put, hope deferred is defined as something put off or postponed. In other words, a disappointment. Sometimes, if our hopes keep getting put off, it can lead to depression, making the heart sick. You may know what it's like to lose hope. It tends to make everything else seem useless. 'Why try? Why expend my energy?'

If our hope lies in this world - in this life - then there are days when it will seem absolutely hopeless. However, I must say that we need the right kind of hope! Our hope must be in the eternal.

Romans 15:13a NLT, Paul tells us, "I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him." If God is our Source of hope, He is a never-ending supply of it. Think about that!

Remember that the Word tells in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

God is ALL these things, and He is our eternal Source of hope.

Prayer:

Father,
          Forgive us for looking to anything or anyone else as our source of hope. You alone are our true hope. Help us to remember that there are no disappointments and no dissatisfaction in Heaven and that Heaven with You is our goal. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - About Surrender

He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

2nd Corinthians 5:15 NLT

I believe God gave me a fighting spirit. My parents helped the idea along. My first name comes from the Greek language and means "strong, brave" - my middle name means "strong warrior" - and yet, I'm female. However, I feel as though the spirit of "Remember the Alamo!" emanates from my bones.

I could regale you with many tales of conflict, but I won't. Our purpose is to glorify God, not to brag on our before stories.

I cannot get away from the idea of surrendering. I have realized just exactly how foreign it is to my nature. And yet, that is what we are called to do - surrender to the Lordship of Christ and live our lives accordingly. Without exaggeration, I have sung this song at least several hundred times in my life; I Surrender All. I sang it passionately and with what I thought was my whole heart... but as of today, I know that is not true, but it is the prayer of my heart.

Think about this for a moment - in a today sort of moment. What does it mean to surrender? Well, the good people at Merriam-Webster define it like this:

a: to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand <surrendered the fort>
b: to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another
c: to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner
d: to give (oneself) over to something (as an influence)

None of it sounds like something I want to do in and of myself, but God IS still God. The Truth is - He is the one true God and He rules by HIS rules, not mine. He didn't ask me what I thought. He invited me to follow Him. And to do that, I must surrender my will to His. Will I? Will you?

Prayer:

Father,
          According to Your Word, give me the knowledge to wrap my head and heart around surrendering and the wisdom to know how to walk with You in it. My heart is to surrender to You, O God, and walk fully in YOUR ways. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Overwhelming, But Not Over

Then the word of the LORD came to him, [Elijah] saying, “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
1st Kings 17:2-7 NKJV

Elijah was many things, but one thing he was not was politically correct. At the Lord's command, Elijah delivered the message to Ahab that there would be a drought and that there would be neither dew nor rain until he said so. And then immediately, God said, "Get outta town, son." (Texas vernacular).

If you walk with the Lord, you know that God has changed your path. And it's not always comfortable. First and foremost, He changed the direction of where you are heading for eternity. That's huge... and have you noticed, He doesn't stop there? He's either changed your employment or super-charged your passion in life - probably both - and that usually brings a change of scenery, as well. I'll bet you've moved a time or two. Yes?

Has God ever taken you someplace - so totally NOT in your plans or scheme of life - and then made provision beyond what you expected? And when you get there, you wind up so completely amazed at His working in your life and the blessings that overtake you! You just KNOW the only way you're going to leave the new place is if you die or Jesus comes back... but then the brook dries up (see the last sentence of our Promise for Today.) And there you have a choice. What do you do? It can be overwhelming...

I'd like to share an excerpt from a book titled "Lead Vertically", written by Craig Johnson. The message of it is profound. The following excerpt is "Who is in Charge of Your Change?"

"Change can mask itself to look like a problem, when in reality it is the answer in disguise. We can't always see that the thing that might be holding us back is the very thing we have been holding on to the tightest. Change will force you to step onto the playing field when you have been comfortable in the stands. You always have a choice: you either run from change or you respond to it. You can either be afraid or affirming; passive or powerful. It all depends on whether you are handling the change or God is handling the change. Have you ever experienced more change than you could bear? It's overwhelming...but it's not over!"

Allow God to be in charge of your change. It will do you good.

Prayer:

Father,
          Give us the courage to step out as Elijah did and do what You tell us to do, say what You tell us to say, and go where You direct our path. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Remembering How It Used to Be

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2nd Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

People frequently ask me where I get the ideas for the Promise. I think God brings every day of our lives into His keeping. Therefore, everyday situations are not something that happen apart from our Christianity, but rather an opportunity to grow and mature - and to recognize the presence of God in every moment. Now with all that seemingly serious profundity, I'll tell you that today's Promise came from thinking about cleaning the coils on my refrigerator.

I'll spare you the gory details... Used to be, when I worked construction, I actually started as a painter. As an apprentice, you don't get to roll right away, you have to cut in and do baseboards and trim. Crawl around for most of the day, up and down the ladder. Great cardio, but boring. I was thinking about all that, and about how we used to knock out 2 to 3 apartments a day (determined by how many bedrooms)...all that crawling and all that up and down. Used to be, I could do that without even giving it a thought. However, cleaning coils on the refrigerator took an engineering epiphany just to get TO the floor; never mind, getting back up.

Used to be, I played competition volleyball. Used to be, I could carry 2 five-gallon buckets of paint up 3 flights of stairs and not even be winded. Used to be, I could lift 100-pound sacks of flour without batting an eye. Now there are days I'd better grab the 5-pound bag just right, or I'm gonna drop it.

As I was writing my own Book of Lamentations in my mind, while trying to get UP off the floor after cleaning the coils on my refrigerator, the Lord reminded me about how it used to be. Used to be when I worked construction, I was drunk by 6 o'clock on Friday night and stayed drunk until Sunday night and spent 3 days recovering, so I could start again the next weekend. Now, I get high on worshipping the Lord.

Used to be when I was lifting 100-pound sacks of flour, I was quietly going out of my mind because of the pain in my soul and the torment in my mind. Now, I fight the powers of hell and live in peace because my mind is stayed on Him.

Used to be...oh, really! Why go there? 

Used to be doesn't live here anymore... and I thank God for it every day. Praise His Holy Name!

Prayer:

Father,

          You overwhelm me with Your love and Your care. I have never done anything worthy to be called Your child and yet, You chose me to be Yours. O for a thousand tongues to sing praises to You! Help me to always see You in every moment of my life. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen 

Let's Do This

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Colossians 3:12-15 NLT

Let's not just read this - Let's DO IT! Let's live our lives according to THIS.

Prayer:

Father,
         Cause Your Word to come alive in us and bring forth a harvest of love and peace and thankful hearts. Remind us always to forgive others as You have forgiven us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - On Fire

In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
James 3:5-6 NLT

Recently, I heard a sermon about judging others. I thought I'd been doing pretty well about not judging people; that is until I heard the sermon in its entirety. I was going along just fine with it, doing a mental checklist - Check - no longer do that. Check - no longer do that.  Check - no longer do that... Then he asked. "So you think you're doing pretty well - not judging people? How about when you're at work and you no sooner hang up the phone and you say, 'Idiot.' You just passed judgment on that person..."

As much as I'd like to try to justify that particular action by claiming that I was just stating fact, Ephesians 4:29 instructs me, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Declaring someone an idiot is definitely NOT ministering grace... And even though I wasn't actively pursuing the act of pronouncing judgment, that's exactly what I'd done.

Yes, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is interesting to note that in common law, arson is defined as 'the malicious burning of another's dwelling'. For purposes of common law arson, malicious is defined as 'an action creating a GREAT RISK of a burning'. It is not required that the defendant acted intentionally or willfully for the purpose of burning a dwelling. Creating the RISK is enough to be charged with the crime (sin).

So, here I am, yet again, walking out James 5:16, "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." Please, God, keep Your arm around my shoulder and Your hand over my mouth. 

Prayer:

Father,
          Thank You for Your Word that always leads us back to You and redemption. Restore a right spirit within us, O Lord. Give us clean hands and pure hearts. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Relationships

 I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.  Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Revelation 2:2-4 NKJV

According to Scripture, God has loved us since before the foundations of the Earth. I have not loved Him that long. I loved Him when I was a child, but when I got old enough to think I could make my own decisions, I chose (at that time) to walk after the ways of the world. For over a decade, I was on a one-way street with no speed limits, heading straight for hell. "Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars."

It was when I was at my personal worst that God stepped into my path and offered me a way out...my Prince had come to save me and I couldn't get enough of Him! I was at church every time the doors were open and sometimes, even when they weren't. I just wanted to be there. I took notes every service and studied them and studied them and studied them some more because I wanted to know all I could about this God of the universe, Creator of Heaven and Earth, who loved ME enough to die for me - to pay the price for MY sins - to spare me the punishment for the evil choices I made.

That was a long time ago. Lately, it's almost been like some of the old married couples you've seen. They're comfortable in their relationship, but they're not "crazy in love" like they were when they were kids. She no longer hangs on his every word. He's not her "first love" anymore. Nowadays, he gets put on the back burner if one of the grandchildren or one of the ladies in her group needs something. She takes for granted that he's always going to be there.

There is a huge difference between comfortable and complacent. I've grown comfortable in my relationship with the Lord. I actually believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that He loves me - and that's good - but the truth is in the last few months, I had grown complacent in my relationship with Him. Oh, I wasn't out running around or getting drunk or doing stuff like that - but neither was I running to be with Him or drinking from the water of Life or listening for His voice. And I could feel the nudges... "You don't spend time with Me. Come talk to Me. Don't push Me away. Don't ignore Me."

I tried to make myself believe it was all okay because I wasn't running around or doing all those other things, and I was at church and paid my tithes, and gave offerings, etc... but I forgot one VERY important thing. 

This relationship has NEVER been about what I'VE done for Him.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for loving me more than enough to confront me and make me uncomfortable in my complacency. Forgive me, Lover of my soul, for putting anything alive or electronic ahead of You in my life. It is ONLY in You that I live and move and have my being. Let my only comfort be in You. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen