Friends' Favorites - Nothing

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 NLT

When our hope is in God - the Source of all hope - it does not matter what troubles come our way. We know from Scripture there is nothing too hard for God, nothing too big, nothing that shocks Him, nothing that knocks Him off His throne, nothing that can cause Him to wring His hands in worry, or throw them up in defeat. Nothing. 

Do you believe it?

Prayer:

Father,

          Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by Your truth and teach me, for You are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You. Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and unfailing love, which You have shown from long ages past. Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of Your unfailing love, for You are merciful, O Lord. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Friends' Favorites - Wilderness Living

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

Friends' Favorites - Practice

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9 NLT

Have you ever driven down an old dirt road that was full of ruts - some of them so deep you thought they could serve Chinese take-out in them? You might have wanted to go one way, but the ruts took you their way. It's difficult to maneuver out of deep ruts, but it's not impossible.

Do you remember the first time you sat in front of a typewriter (dating myself) or keyboard? Did the layout of the alphabet make any sense to you at all? Of course not, but now we type without even thinking about where the letters are. Your fingers know because the paths have been cut deep into your brain through all those timed tests and hours of practice. Keystrokes that were once unfamiliar and not comfortable. They don't happen easily unless we practice. The good news is that we can accomplish some level of skill with most things if we practice.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to grouse, gripe and grumble? Carp, complain and criticize? Sometimes it's so stinking easy that you catch yourself in the middle of doing it before you even realize you started. I hate it when that happens. Wouldn't it be just as easy to look for the good in something rather than the bad? Wouldn't it be just as easy to smile as smirk? Wouldn't it be easier to love our neighbors as ourselves if we looked for gifts instead of guilt? If we made a practice of giving instead of goading? Oh, I know, I know... that's HARD! All things that are unfamiliar are not comfortable - they don't happen easily unless we practice... It's difficult to maneuver out of deep ruts, but it's not impossible. We can even form new ones when we wet the soil. 

Practice mercy. Practice kindness. Let's wet the soil of our rutted souls with the water of the Word of God so we may go in a new direction. According to Galatians 5:22-24, Practice producing the gifts of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

Yessiree, practice makes perfect. Are you ready? And a one and a two...

Prayer:

Father,

         Your Word tells us we have the mind of Christ. Help us to fix our thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Cause us to think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Remind us to keep putting into practice all we've learned and received from You—everything we've heard from Your Son and have seen Him do, so that we may dwell in Your peace.  In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Friends' Favorites - 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. And He is MORE than enough. 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

Friends' Favorites - 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 our latest streaming 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

Friends' Favorites - What Will We Give?

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38 NKJV

God is big about giving. As with everything, He set the example. He doesn't say, "I'm snatching your money from you." "I'm taking your tithes." He says, "Bring it..." and then promises to pour out more blessings than we can hold in return. (NEWS FLASH! Blessing does not necessarily mean money! It's a blessing when you stay healthy while coworkers around you are coughing and hacking. It's a blessing when you find the perfect gift and it's on sale. It's also a blessing when your old car just keeps going.)

Whether it's your money, your goods, your time, or your talent - it's not how much you give, it's the attitude in which you give it. Have you ever heard someone say, "How much to make you go away?"  That is not a generous or grateful heart.

Grateful hearts tend to be generous. They understand what it is to have a need and have it met. Philippians 4:6b reads, Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. It doesn't say, "Tell God to go get it and wait until AFTER you get it to give thanks" although many times that's the attitude we see. People who say, I prayed and I didn't get it, and then they want to stop praying. It's like a spoiled brat who throws a tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants.

God knows the difference between want and need, good and bad, right and wrong, and because He IS love and loves US, He will not trade our needs for our wants or give us bad for our good, wrong for the right.

Scripture tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights. Good and perfect gifts. Given to us from God. Our example. What will we give? What measure will we use? Our best? Or whatever it takes to make Him or others go away?

Prayer:

Father,
         Let us give good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over - with a cheerful disposition - and all for Your glory, not ours. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Friends' Favorites - Story Teller

So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. 

 Deuteronomy 11:18-21 NLT

Israel was getting ready to enter into the Promised Land. They had spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness until all the calf-building, idol-worshiping, rebellious generation was dead. Now, God was giving them a new future based on their history - their story - with God.

Moses reminds them in the preceding verses that their children weren’t there to see the miracles and signs God performed in Egypt, nor the discipline and greatness of God’s outstretched arm. This generation of children was not at the Red Sea. They knew nothing prior to the wilderness. Could they even understand the total provision by God for all those people - every day for 40 years - because of His great love and mercy?

Have you ever noticed that when families get together - who haven't been together in a while - how the conversation usually turns to reminiscing? Telling the stories about growing up - the good times and the tough times (tempered by the years) all about how somehow you made it through.

I haven't met a child yet who didn't love a good story. When my daughter was little, she loved to hear stories of "the old days." It gave her a connection. She was the newest member of the family at the time, but she already had a story connection because of being in the family.

As the family of God, we have a story. His story. And children - whether they're ours or baby Christians - need to know how He provided the good times and made provision through the tough times. They need to recognize God by the picture we paint of who He is.

Tell them your story. For you see, we are overcomers by the Blood of the Lamb - Jesus - AND the word of OUR testimony. Which story will you tell?

Prayer:

Father,
Thank You for giving us a story to tell. Give us divine appointments to share our stories of You and Your great love for us. May we tell it at every opportunity provided. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen