Being Warm

Matthew 24:12 

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

Some of us are starting to grab a jacket before we head outside in the morning. Not all of us. I’m still in short-sleeve shirts. It’ll be a while before I need a jacket. But for some, October marks a change in the weather. People are starting to use the word COLD for something besides describing how they like their lemonade.

One thing I’m fairly sure of is that when I get to Heaven, I won’t need a parka. Heaven will be perfect. No need to wipe sweat off your forehead. No need to wrap up in a blanket. No one will be too hot or too cold. People will be as warm as the love in their hugs.

When I read about how Jesus treated people, the warmth comes through very well. He healed people with a genuine, full-hearted love. He had a warmth that penetrated the coldest of hearts around him. People saw his warmth and either hated him or loved him for it.

While we’re going through a change in seasons, let every cold day remind us to be warm like Jesus. We can be generous, thoughtful, and kind to others. We can be ready to forgive when we start our day. We won’t wait until others have offended us. Was it Vince Lombardi who said, “The best defense is a good offense”? We’ll let love be our offensive strategy and our automatic response.

Do you want generosity and mercy to be your legacy?

New Information

Colossians 1:9

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.

I love reading the Bible. It fills me with an awe that isn’t associated with any other kind of reading. I know it was inspired by God himself and written by many authors. It’s easy to see the varying writing styles of the authors. The writing of Luke shows details that might be noticed by a physician. Other books of the New Testament are written in a different style, with longer sentences and longer paragraphs. When I read the book of Colossians, I find myself mentally cutting down sentences to their main subject and verb. When I cut out many of the adjectives and prepositional phrases, I’m able to see the point of the verses so much more clearly.

For instance, if you read Colossians 2:2-3 and simplify the two verses into one sentence (cutting back from 48 words to 16 words), it might boil down to this: I want you to know Christ because when he reveals himself, he reveals wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 1:9 (above) tells how to pray for someone. It continues with Col 1:10, “so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.” These two verses help us to understand that God isn’t trying to withhold his wisdom from us. When God fills us with the knowledge of his will, he is giving us a little of his wisdom at a time, so that we aren’t overwhelmed. He does this so that we can bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God. When we grow in the knowledge of God, we are so filled with the glow of joy that we have to share it. When we share it, we are able to bear fruit through our obedient actions.

Several places in the Bible show us that God wants us to seek him out and ask him for new information. We should be asking God for wisdom and understanding. He allows us to communicate with him through the Spirit of God so that we have not just information, but someone to guide us through the information. We can read that in 1 Corinthians 2: 12, “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”

As you seek God this week, be prepared to receive new information by his Spirit, the one who guides us into all understanding.

New Teacher

Luke 6:4

The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

I don’t think that many of us earthly parents have heard our kids tell us, “You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.” That comes from Psalm 119:68 where someone said it to God. God, our Heavenly Father, wants to hear that from us every bit as much as we want to hear that from our kids.

If we want to hear that from our kids, we should be taking the time to learn from God. If God is our Heavenly Father, we will trust his correction and learn his ways. We can’t be good parents if we’re not watching the best example of a good parent. We can learn how to pour our wisdom into our kids by the way God helps us grow in wisdom.

Proverbs 1:23 reminds us of the call of wisdom, “Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.”

The obstinate fool will ignore wise correction in order to have things under their control. We all want things to go our way, but that’s not always the way of wisdom. Can a wise person hear the call for repentance and not do some immediate soul searching?

Just as someone who wants to build his muscles must use his muscles, one who wants to wants to have more wisdom must use the wisdom he has. Everyone starts small and builds with what they have. If not all personal trainers are equal, then it follows that not all who call themselves wise are actually wise. Be careful who your teacher is. If your teacher is not terribly wise, you also will be not terribly wise. The teacher can only train you with what they already have achieved for themselves.

In Isaiah 48:17, we read, “This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” With this, God was fussing at stubborn Israel. He was reminding them who he is and why they should be listening to him. God wasn’t trying to get their attention in order to sell them something. He was simply trying to help them along the right path.

God is a good parent to all who run to him. As a good parent, he wants to teach his children how to think things through so they know why they should be doing a particular thing in a particular way. Parents don’t really want blind obedience. They want smart, thoughtful children who obey and know what they’re doing is the best way. They want children who trust them.

If you don’t have a wise teacher, maybe you should think about getting a new teacher. God lets us know all through the Bible that he is available for us. And he’s a great teacher.

Thanks for seeking God with me today.

New Season

Luke 11:31

The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here.

Whether you’re starting a new school year in kindergarten, high school, or college, starting school begins a new season in the life of any student. School is an important place. Those who hunger for valuable knowledge search for helpful teachers. Students must be ready to listen, adapt, and obey teachers in this new season of learning.  

If you’re in a new season of learning, looking for a new job, or beginning a new marriage, you’ll need wisdom.

In Proverbs 4:7, we read, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” I love that. Basically, it tells us that if you want to be seen as wise, don’t stand around telling people you’re wise. Get wisdom. Don’t put the word wise in your email address. Just get the wisdom. Don’t start a blog about how wise you are. Just get the wisdom.

How do you get wisdom? You can read about getting wisdom in the Bible. We read in Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.” If we want to listen to wise teachers, to whom should we turn? People in the Bible agree with today’s generation of wise people that those who fear the Lord and follow his principles are the wise teachers.

The Queen of the South came a great distance to listen to Solomon. It wasn’t for entertainment purposes. Solomon’s words were important. Many people came to listen to Solomon because he was the wisest person in the world. God had given him the ability to speak more wisdom than anyone else before him. It seems to me that if you want to be wise, you listen to the wisest people.

Solomon, the wisest man, wrote some pretty wise words in the Proverbs. For instance, Proverbs 2:6, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” If the wisest man gives you instruction, do what he says. Solomon tells us to listen to the Lord if we want to get wisdom and understanding. Why? Because that’s where he got his wisdom and understanding.

Seek out wisdom in God’s presence and in his words. Ask God to guide you into wisdom. And when he says to do something, do it.

Do you listen to God and obey him? That’s wisdom.

The Unexpected Blessing

Genesis 27:21

Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

Jacob wasn’t expecting to get his father’s blessing. His mother persuaded him that dressing up like his hairy brother and serving the meal to his father to get the blessing was a great idea. Isaac was old and his senses were failing. It was risky, but Jacob believed he could pull it off.

When someone has a plan all figured out, he doesn’t want anyone messing with his plan. He doesn’t want surprises. I’ve felt this way recently when I planned out how to get a couple hours of errands done. However, my husband wanted to help out before the day was finished. When he took on some of the tasks I had delegated to my kids, I knew it wasn’t likely that all of my plans were going to be accomplished. I really enjoyed being with my husband, but that surprise, as wonderful as it was, meant that I’d have to reassign some tasks for the next day. Even though my plans were all messed up, my unexpected blessing was spending a little more time with my hunky husband.

Isaac had planned to give Esau his blessing, but when Jacob showed up instead, Isaac hesitated. Isaac expected Esau, but he heard Jacob’s voice. He asked the boy to come close so he could touch him just to make sure. I can imagine Isaac was trying to decide if his hearing was about to go out as well. He knew something wasn’t right, but he went ahead and gave the blessing.

When Esau finally came in to give his father the meal and receive his blessing, his father asked who he was. Not a good sign.

Isaac’s plan had been messed up. Jacob had to leave the area immediately to flee from his brother’s wrath. But he’d been blessed by his father in a way that left no room for Esau in that blessing. When you read places in the Bible like Exodus 4:5 (“This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”), you don’t read Esau’s name, but Jacob’s.

I wonder if God messes up our plans to give us an unexpected blessing.

An Unexpected Leader

Judges 6:15

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

How can Gideon,  the least in his family from the weakest clan in Manasseh, be a great leader? I think we all ask God that about ourselves sometimes. How can I be anything great when there are so many negative voices in my life? How can I overcome disadvantages and lead my family into prosperity?

There are many stories of surprising success. How many mothers have prayed for their children to rise above the limited successes achieved by the parents? How many great leaders have come from disadvantaged backgrounds?

When I hear about a “self-made man”, I know God had a hand in making that man. I know there are plenty of people who used principles given to us by God and achieved victories in different areas of their lives based on doing things God’s way.

Gideon is a man who was from an impoverished family. He lived in an area where the surrounding people trampled their crops and killed their livestock. They had been so beaten down that they called out to God for help.

Isn’t that usually how we humans do things? We try to handle things on our own, and we fail miserably. Then when we’ve had enough of our self-made poverty, complaining the whole time about all those other people who have been ruining our chances for success, we come to the point where there’s nothing left but to pray.

We’ve tried everything, and nothing has worked, so we pray to God and ask for help. I’ve done that. Have you?

When Gideon’s family came to the point of praying, God answered with a personal visitation. It kind of freaked Gideon out. But he wasn’t stupid. He knew to take advantage of this important opportunity.

He began obeying the instruction of God. God helped him organize a small army who would follow his leadership. The battle wasn’t fought with traditional weapons. The men who might’ve been saying “this will never work” were not allowed to join Gideon’s army.

Gideon was an unexpected leader who found success by departing from expected tactics. Sometimes success lies just ahead if we will change our ways. We have to be bold enough to take a risk. We have to follow God. And following God is never risky unless we’re seeking the approval of man.

Do you need God to help you find your victory? Try making changes to the way you’re doing things. God might lead you down an unexpected path that leads to your success.

Thanks for seeking God with me.  

Expectation of Heaven

John 14:2

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

I haven’t seen very many mansions, but I have seen a few large houses that have many rooms. This summer, my family took a vacation in beautiful North Carolina and stopped in Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate. This is an incredibly relaxing area, in spite of the millions of tourists it attracts. Even though there were a large number of people viewing the “house” while we were there, we were able to sit in some comfy chairs on a balcony and rest our feet for a minute.

There was so much beauty to enjoy inside and outside that house, yet I imagine when I see what Heaven is like, the beauty of the Biltmore Estate will pale in comparison. No one has ever prepared a place for me at the Biltmore Estate, nor do I ever expect that to happen. However, Jesus has announced that those who belong to him will  be welcomed into a place in Heaven that was prepared especially for them.

Eternity is a long time. Our generation will be on the Earth for only a little time. We can enjoy what we have here while we have it, but we can also look forward to where we’ll be when we leave this place.

What are you looking forward to the most about Heaven?

Thanks for seeking God with me.

Hiding From Evil

Psalm 34:14

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

Have you ever been so afraid that you scooted down in your bed and pulled the covers over your head? I remember one time I was so afraid that I wanted to become invisible. Of course, I tried to act like I wasn’t afraid, but I felt like my heart was beating out of my chest. My hands were shaking. It was an awful feeling.

I would’ve appreciated someone reminding me of the prayer found in Psalm 140:1, “Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers; protect me from the violent.” In times like that when fear comes in like a tidal wave, God is the best shelter. We can run to him.

Matthew 6:13 is part of the prayer many believers pray together in church, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” In this prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, he emphasized that protective nature of God.  Also in John 17:15, he prayed in front of his disciples the same thing, “ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” God is able to gather us up in his protective arms and hold us while we’re afraid.

If you find yourself in a dangerous place, know that you have a job to do and God has a job to do. Your job, and mine, is to avoid evil. We are to speak to God about it and move forward, trusting him. Starting off Psalm 64, verse 2 is the request. “Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the plots of evildoers.”

Verses 7 through 10 show the response from God.

“But God will shoot them with his arrows; they will suddenly be struck down. He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn. All people will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done. The righteous will rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will glory in him!”

There is evil on the Earth today. But we don’t have to be afraid of it. That’s why God gave us the words of Psalm 34:14 in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Our job is to avoid evil. We can put our focus on the good things we’re supposed to be devoted to. In order for us to hide from evil, we should be keeping our eyes on God and going about the business of obeying him. If we are continually seeking God and his peace, if we are loving God and loving people, we will be in his protective and gentle arms.

Thank you for seeking God with me.

 

Hiding From Yourself

Galatians 6:9

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Have you looked in the mirror and not recognized yourself as a hero? Many of us don’t think of ourselves as heroes. But we were created to be heroes. All of us have special skills, just like heroes.

How do you recognize a hero? Not by the cape and mask, but by the way he acts. How does a hero act? He uses his abilities to help others.

Romans 12:6 reminds each of us that we have a valuable gift that is to be used and not ignored. Having the gift doesn’t make you special. Using the gift does.

Romans 12:3 reminds us to think of ourselves with sober judgment. That means to use your gift with all humility. Yes, you are important and special, but you’re not the only one who is. Verse five reminds us that we are all members of one body, and we belong to each other. Do long arms help the hands reach for something on a high shelf? Do fast feet help the chest cross the finish line? Your gift is important to the rest of the body.

Galatians 6:9 warns us not to tire of helping others. Give diligently and tirelessly. Why? Because volunteers are needed. Look around in your community at the many opportunities to volunteer. Do you have carpentry skills? You can volunteer at Habitat for Humanity. Do you have people skills? You can help out in a nursing home. Right now is the perfect time to give your abilities to help others.

Many of us hear about the opportunities and think we can’t do a good enough job. When we do that, we’re hiding from ourselves, hiding behind an excuse. The truth is simply that we have skills that can benefit others.

Recently, my daughter and I used our artistic abilities to help nursing home residents create roses out of modeling clay. We gave up some of our free time this summer to help out people who really appreciated it. They wanted to visit with us, so we chatted. They were delighted with our company and our artistic instruction. It was a time of mutual enjoyment and encouragement. I’m sure we’ll be back there to help a few more times this summer.

So now it’s up to you. Are you someone’s hero already? If not, you can be. Stop hiding and act like the hero you were created to be.

Hiding From Chores

Psalm 104:13-14

He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—  bringing forth food from the earth

It’s summer. It’s hot outside and much more comfortable inside. However, if you have a garden, you must weed it. If you have a pet, you must feed it. We all want to be lazy and relax all summer long, but chores must be done.

I knew when I became a mom that I would one day spend many hours trying to get my little ones to do their assigned chores. But even I have things on my To Do list that I’m purposefully closing my eyes to. I’m to the point where my To Do list is becoming my To Ignore list.

So when I recognize that my break time is taking longer than necessary, I can go to various Bible verses and look at some encouragement. Among the many places I can go is Psalm 104. God shows us that part of bringing forth food on the earth for man to eat is God’s job. And part of that process is man’s job. God causes seeds to grow in the dirt. He waters the soil and shines the light of the sun on the plants. Our job, according to Psalm 104:14, is to cultivate the plants. I see farmers working their fields, planting, harvesting, and bringing food to market. If a farmer decides to be lazy, he’s also going to be hungry.

However, if God does his part and we do our part, we’ll never be hungry.

When God’s people were going to experience a famine in Joseph’s day, God worked it out for Joseph to have a place prepared for his family. God’s people didn’t starve during the famine, but they weren’t lazy either. In Moses’s day, the people were given bread from Heaven. But they had to gather it and prepare their meals.

There are always chores to do. People who want to eat will not have their hands out, they’ll have their hands busy.

It’s so much easier for God to bless his people when we’re listening to him and obeying him. There is a time to rest and a time for chores. I know God loves to bless hands at work.

Hiding from the Heat

Daniel 3:19

“Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual”

Fourth of July is tomorrow. Many families are planning to participate in neighborhood parties, cookouts, and local parades. My family is used to being hot on this national holiday. We took our children to the zoo when they were in the single-digit age range. Watching elephants was one of the hot highlights of the event, but the snake house was one of the cool highlights. I treasured the air conditioned building and didn’t pay much attention to the creepy residents winding through their small grassy habitat. That wasn’t my favorite place, but it was a great place to hide from the heat.

Another place to hide from heat is the presence of God. Just ask three young men who were thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to worship the king’s gods. The king found out they weren’t following his orders and asked them about it – giving them a chance to change their minds.

Verses 16 through 18 tell us, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.’”

Verse 19 tells us the king’s orders were his way of challenging the young men’s ideas of being saved from instant death. However, after they were thrown into the furnace, it was instantly apparent that they were in the presence of God. God not only saved them from the heat, but joined them in it.

The king got an education that day and made it known that he’d changed his mind about the young men and their refusal to worship other gods. He learned that the God these men had been willing to die for was the only God who could save them.

If you’re in the heat this week or weekend, remember that it’s cooler in the presence of God.

Thanks for seeking God with me today.