What Could You Do If You Didn't...

Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are.
Ephesians 5:11 The Message

We live in a day and age where there are SO many things to distract our attentions and take up our time. I find myself 'held captive' sometimes - my evening wasted or at the least, non-productive because I was distracted. I challenge you to think about it honestly for a moment.

I'm not throwing condemnation or chucking guilt at anyone, but how many minutes in a day do we fritter away? What could we have accomplished had we intentionally utilized them? If we laid aside the TV, or web-surfing or the games on the cell phones for one night - just one night...

How many people could we touch with love by reaching out in a quick call?

How many 'Thinking of You' note cards could we sign, address and stamp?

How many people could we pray for? How many lives would be changed?

How will we know what we could do, unless we just try it and see?

Prayer:

Father,
           Grant us Your perspective on our lives and times and what little things we can give You in small return for what You've given us. Let us become fully aware and conscious of what could be done in the little moments when given to and guided by You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

Are You Getting Enough Water?

Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.”
John 4:13-14 AMP

It's Texas. It's hot. I'm thirsty. I immediately thought of these two verses. 

In the last week, it doesn't seem to matter how much water I've sucked in; I'm still thirsty. And I am the one who always asks others, "How much water are you drinking? Is it enough?" I convinced myself I was drinking an ample amount. Turns out, I was not. 

It got me to thinking... 

How many times do we hit that same place in our Christian walk? We think we've drawn enough to carry us through, only to find ourselves parched. We may even be "pouring out" for the Lord in ministry to others, but forgetting to drink daily from Jesus, the Living Water. We become dry, weak, and begin to burn out, then wonder why.

Isaiah 58:11 New Life Version reads, The Lord will always lead you. He will meet the needs of your soul in the dry times and give strength to your body. You will be like a garden that has enough water, like a well of water that never dries up.  We must replenish and there's only One way to do that - Jesus. Are you getting enough Water?

Prayer:

Father,
          We need more of You. Open our eyes to heed the signs of spiritual dehydration in our lives. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen 

Even When

The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Deuteronomy 30:6 NIV

All I can do this day is praise God and thank Him for all He has done for me and mine - over and over and continuously - His hand of protection and provision. He is a great and merciful God and I want to serve Him. And I want my children and grandchildren and all the generations to serve Him.

God has ALWAYS been faithful even when we haven't.
God has ALWAYS loved us, even when we were unlovable and didn't love back.
His Word and His promises have ALWAYS been true, even when our lives - by our own choices - have been a lie.

In Ezekiel 36:26-27, God promises, And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

Thank You, Father.

Prayer:

Father,
            Hasten to perform Your Word, O God, for You know much better than I that the time is short. I sense the urgency. Create in us a clean heart. Renew a right spirit within us, please. Clean hands and a pure heart, O God. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

The Cutting Edge

As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water. “Oh no, my lord!” he cried out. “It was borrowed!”

The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.“Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.
2nd Kings 6:5-7 NIV

So, the guy was doing work for the Lord. They were trying to build a bigger meeting place. Without the axe, what would he do? What could he do? What if he had gotten bogged down with the facts of the situation? Iron ax head. It's going down and it's not coming up. He's losing out twice because he can't finish the work he was doing for God and now, he's out whatever it would cost to pay back the lost ax head. 

Does your life ever feel like that? I know mine has. Doing what you know to do for the Lord and stuff happens. Then not only are you stifled from doing the work you believe you were called to do, but maybe there's a price tag for something that didn't go quite how you planned. What are you going to do? Get bogged down with the facts of the situation? The servant made the right choice. 

Will we do the same when we lose our cutting edge? Will we lose our passion for Christ because we're bogged down in the miry circumstances? 

Prayer:

Father,
            Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for writing it down and making it available to us. Thank You for the Light on our path, guiding our footsteps. Thank You that it is You who works in us both to will and to do in order to fulfill Your good purpose in our lives. Help us to trust You in it. Restore our cutting edge. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

In Charge of the Change (by request)

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

If you walk with the Lord, you know that God has changed your path. First and foremost, He changed the direction of where you are heading for eternity. That's a biggie... and have you noticed, He didn'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. I'll bet you've moved a time or two. Yes?

Has He ever taken you someplace - so totally NOT in your plans or scheme of life - and 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 that place is if you die or Jesus comes back... but then the brook dries up (see the last sentence of our text.) And there you have a choice. What do you do?

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 titled, "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!

I encourage you to allow God to be in charge of your change. The change 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
 

Keep On

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7 NKJV

There are fewer things in life more hurtful than to know you are someplace where you are not wanted. Don't leave - we're not staying here with that thought... No pun intended. 😊 It's just one more reason it is so great to follow the Lord! He ALWAYS wants us! No matter where He is and no matter where we are!

From Genesis to Revelation, God has invited us to come close, to be in conversation with Him, to reason together, to follow in His footsteps, to love each other. Jesus has gone above and beyond by inviting us to ask for anything according to His will, promising that God will give it to us.

Oh, I can hear you... you've been praying a long time and as far as you can tell, nothing has happened. In fact, it seems to have gotten worse... However, in our Promise for Today, Jesus cheers us on in our pursuit of the good things of God. In The New Living Translation, it reads, Keep on asking... Keep on seeking... Keep on knocking...

Keep on! Verse 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Jesus never put a timeline on it, He just said to keep on.

Prayer:

Father,
            We know that following You is a walk of faith. Help us to see with eyes of faith and know that You will be found faithful to us. You are trustworthy, a Rewarder of those who diligently seek You. Give us Your strength, Father, so that we don't grow weary in well-doing because we KNOW we will reap a due harvest, if we faint not. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Devoted to Prayer

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Colossians 4:2 NKJV

An Excerpt from a teaching by John Piper.

Your version might say, “constant in prayer” or “faithful in prayer.” Those all get at aspects of the word. “Devoted” is a good translation. The word is used in Mark 3:9 where it says, “[Jesus] told his disciples to have a boat ready (proskartere) for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him.” A boat was to set apart — devoted — for the purpose of taking Jesus away in case the crowd became threatening. “Devoted” — dedicated for a task, appointed for it. 

Now, boats just sit there. But people are not dedicated that way. When the word is applied to a person it means devoted or dedicated in the sense not only of designation and appointment but of action in the appointed task, and pressing on in it. So for example in Romans 13:6 Paul talks about the role of government like this: “You also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.” That is, they are not only designated by God for a task, but are giving themselves to it. 

What’s remarkable about this word is that five of the ten New Testament uses apply to prayer. Listen, besides Romans 12:12 there are:

Acts 1:14 (after the ascension of Jesus while the disciples were waiting in Jerusalem for the outpouring of the Spirit): “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”
Acts 2:42 (Of the early converts in Jerusalem): “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Acts 6:4 (The apostles say): “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Colossians 4:2 (Paul says to all of us): “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”

So we may say from the New Testament Scriptures that the normal Christian life is a life devoted to prayer. And so you should ask... “Am I devoted to prayer?” 

It does not mean that prayer is all you do — any more than being devoted to a wife means all the husband does is hang out with his wife. But his devotion to her affects everything in his life and causes him to give himself to her in many different ways. So being devoted to prayer doesn’t mean that all you do is pray (though Paul does say in another place, “pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17). 

It means that there will be a pattern of praying that looks like devotion to prayer. It won’t be the same for everyone. But it will be something significant. Being devoted to prayer looks different from not being devoted to prayer. And God knows the difference. He will call us to account: have we been devoted to prayer? Is there a pattern of praying in your life that can fairly be called “being devoted to prayer”? 

I think most of us would agree on some kinds of praying that would not be called “being devoted to prayer.” Praying only as crises enter your life would not be a pattern of devotion to prayer. Praying only at meal times is a pattern, but does it correspond to Paul exhorting the church to “be devoted to prayer”? A short “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer at the end of the day is probably not “being devoted to prayer.” Hit and miss “Help me, Lord” in the car as you need a parking place is not “being devoted to prayer.” All those are good. But I think we would agree that Paul expects something more and different from followers of Christ when he says, “Be devoted to prayer.”

Prayer:

Father,

          Change our hearts and our mindsets, give us wisdom with regard to prayer. By Your Grace and Strength, help us to walk in the fruit of self-discipline. Open our eyes to see those around us who need us to pray devotedly for them. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen