* Remind Me...

I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

Lamentations 3:20-24 NLT

I have used this Scripture many times, but I never tire of reading and reaffirming, The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

The chapter that this is pulled from is very difficult; after all, it IS Lamentations. The truth of the matter is we ALL go through trials and tribulations because those are what build our faith and endurance. They cause us to grow in our relationship with the Lord, IF we let them. 

I'm walking through a hard time, too, right now. The only thing I have to stand on is the Lord and His promises. The circumstances don't change who God is - He is unchangeable. The same yesterday, today and forever. Whose report will I believe? I will believe the report of the Lord!

And if we forget or lose sight of that - I will remind you. And you - please, remind me!

Prayer:

Father,

          You are almighty God! Our Redeemer, our Healer, our Deliverer. All our hope and trust is in You. Manifest Your glory, O God!  In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Wilderness Survival

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 

Psalm 63:1 NLT

Have you ever felt like you were in a desert? Living the wilderness adventure - without TV cameras and no one there to vote you off the island? It is in the dark times of life that we are most grateful for those relationships we built with fellow followers of Christ. People who will point us to Truth instead of pointing out the circumstances. People who love us and will pray for us when we can't seem to pray for ourselves. People who will remind us of the immutable word of God, so that in the wilderness, our heart's cry can be...

I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy. I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely. Psalm 63:2-8 NLT

Prayer:

Father,
          Thank You for life. Thank You for Your plan for our lives. According to Your Word, Lord, You alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. I will bless You, Lord, the One who guides me... I know You are always with me. I will not be shaken, for You are right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For You will not leave my soul among the dead. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen

* This is the Day

This is the day the Lord has made;
Psalm 118:24a NKJV

It was a rough night and an even rougher morning. One with more questions than answers; more angst than peace; more melancholy than joy. I wasn't seeking the questions, angst or melancholy, but neither was I seeking the answers, the peace or the joy.

Until a dear friend spoke Truth. "All I know is - this is the day the Lord has made and He has a plan for me and for my life in this day." A word fitly spoken (Proverbs 25:11); arrows that pierce me deeply (Psalm 38:2a) ...rightly dividing the word of Truth (2nd Timothy 2:15).

And as those Words of life sat and resonated in my heart and in my mind, I stopped grousing and asked forgiveness and then prayed. Thank You, Father, for the Truth of Your Word in Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Truly, this IS the day the Lord has made. Will you CHOOSE to rejoice and be glad in it?

Prayer:

Father,
           Help us to win the battle of choosing this day. Choosing what YOU have planned. Choosing what YOU have created. Choosing YOUR plan and walking in it. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen

* My Neighbor

He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10:26-37 NKJV

We live in a time when knowing your neighbors - the ones on either side of your house - and knowing them well enough to lend or borrow a cup of sugar are seemingly things of the past. So, who IS my neighbor? What does it take to be one?

Mercy. Compassion. Born of God's love alive in us. When we see someone in need, are we moved with compassion to help meet their need? Do we dig down, find a way to contribute money or time? Will we inconvenience ourselves to help another? 

By inconvenience, I'm not talking about taking food from our children's mouths. I mean would we forego one trip a month to Starbuck's and donate that $5 to an orphanage? Would we skip an hour or so of a Netflix binge to visit someone who may need to know someone cares enough to come "out of their way"? Would we actually take the time to pray for the person on Facebook for which we just typed, "Praying"?

Or do we govern our lives by "my four and no more"? I believe Mr. Rogers (who was a minister) knew exactly what he was asking when he sang, "Won't you be my neighbor?"

[Jesus speaking], So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Prayer:

Father,

           Forgive us for all the times we never noticed the opportunity to be a neighbor. Open our eyes and our hearts to see and respond to "go and do likewise." In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Stubborn Love *

I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.
Jeremiah 31:3 The Amplified Bible

Sometimes for me, I lose sight of how God can continue to love me in spite of myself; all the times I've failed Him, my sin. Do you ever struggle with that? For the last few days, I have awakened with a chorus of the same song swirling in my spirit.

It's Your stubborn love that never lets go of me
I don't understand how You can stay
Perfect love embracing the worst in me
How I long for Your stubborn love

It's a song that Kathy Troccoli recorded in the early 80s titled Stubborn Love (NOT to be confused with a song of the same title by The Lumineers). Just the chorus over and over. And I realize that it is the Lord trying to teach me yet again that it's not about what I do that's important. What IS important IS His love and His grace and His mercy. That is not to say my choices in how I live aren't important - they are - but without Him, I have no hope of making the right choices for those with eternal consequences.

I couldn't remember the rest of the song, so after 4 days, I finally took the time to look up the lyrics, written by a handful of people (Brown Bannister, Sloan Towner, Michael W. Smith, Gary Chapman, and Amy Grant). I have included them here because they are encouraging to anyone who has struggled along the way.

Caught again, Your faithless friend. Don't You ever tire of hearing what a fool I've been? Guess I should pray but what can I say? Oh, it hurts to know the hundred times I've caused You pain Though 'Forgive me' sounds so empty when I never change Yet You stay and say, "I love you still"Forgiving me time and time again

It's Your stubborn love that never lets go of meI don't understand how You can stay Perfect love embracing the worst in me How I long for Your stubborn love


Funny me, just couldn't see Even long before I knew You, You were loving me Sometimes I cry, You must cry too When You see the broken promises I've made to YouI keep saying that I'll trust You though I seldom do Yet You stay and say, "You love me still"Knowing someday I'll be like You


And Your stubborn love, it never lets go of meI don't understand how You can stay Perfect love embracing the worst in me How I long for Your stubborn love


It's Your stubborn love that never lets go of me I don't understand how You can stay Perfect love embracing the worst in me And You never let me go, I believe I finally know I can't live without Your stubborn love.


Prayer:


Father,
Thank You for loving us with a stubborn love that never lets go of us. Please forgive us for all the times we've failed You or let You down. It is only in You that we become a new creation. Give us clean hands and pure hearts, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Who Paid for This?

Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.
1st Corinthians 6:19-20 The Message

If we bought it and we paid for it and we have the scars to show for it, it's ours. We can do what we want with it. But the Truth of the matter is we didn't buy it, and we couldn't pay for it, and although we may have scars from the battles we've chosen to be part of IN our lives, our scars are not part or proof of the purchase price FOR our lives. 

Only Christ did that. He bought it. He paid for it with His own blood, and He has the scars to show for it. 

I love the way 1st Peter 1:18-20 reads in The Message: Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. 

God ALWAYS knew He was going to do this for you... and for me. It cost God plenty... and He paid in full.

Prayer:

Father,
         Open our eyes to see the great price that was paid for our redemption. Open our hearts to recognize and to know that apart from You, we have nothing and we are nothing. Help us to walk in the fullness of life that You have provided for us through Christ Your Son. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Is There Trouble Ahead? *

But it’s trouble ahead if you think you have it made. What you have is all you’ll ever get. And it’s trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself. Your self will not satisfy you for long. And it’s trouble ahead if you think life’s all fun and games.

Luke 6:24-25 The Message

    There’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it. “There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.

“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.

“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. 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 6:24-38 The Message

Prayer:

Father,

        Help us to remember that our task is to be true, not popular. Give us the courage to stand up for what is true and not popular. Remind us that it's not all about us and what we want, when we want it. Cause us to give away our lives as You gave Yours for us. Show us the way, Lord, and help us to walk in it. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen