The One Year® Chronological Daily Bible, NKJV (Tyndale, 2013), January 9 Isaac assumes he is about to die (although he lives for many more years) and promptly decides to bless his son Esau before his death. Rebekah overhears Isaac and Esau’s conversation and quickly concocts a plan to secure Esau’s blessing for Jacob. Jacob ignores…
I am a person who likes to read. I usually have two or three books going at the same time and more stacked nearby waiting to be read. However, I have a problem: I don’t always finish the books. Something always gets in the way. It seems I get about ½ way through a book and we start a new bible study or life gets really busy or sometimes I lose interest when something better comes along. Are you like this? I admit it: I AM A QUITTER. I start things and can’t seem to get them finished. I can also be a procrastinator or start something and wonder why I agreed to do it. What are you thinking about quitting? What have you quit, given up on? Is it something small like a project, book, or bible study? Or is it something big like your marriage, your job, or your New Year’s goals? Did you even set a New Year’s goal? Have you already quit? Well, I 
recently read a book called A WOMAN WHO DOESN’T QUIT: 5 Habits From the Book of Ruth by Nicki Koziarz.
Yes, I read the whole book. You can’t stop reading when you are trying to find out the habits of a person who doesn’t quit. There are several reasons why I read the book, but here are two of the biggest: (1) I could relate to the title. We have already discussed that I can be a quitter and I can procrastinate; (2) The book of Ruth is one of my favorite books in the Bible. Who can pass up a love story when you are single and still waiting on your Boaz. However, one thing I do know about Ruth – she was not a quitter! In fact, Ruth over-excelled. What can Ruth teach us all about not quitting? This I had to learn.
If you are not familiar with the story of Ruth. Stop right now and grab your Bible and read the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. Or better yet go to www.Biblegateway.com and read it on-line. It is a very short book with only 4 chapters. But WAIT! Don’t be a quitter and forget to come back and read the rest of this post.
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Now back to the book, Nicki gives 5 habits we should apply to our lives. You will need to read the book to learn the habits. Yeah, I know the easy way is for me to tell you, but that doesn’t accomplish our goal – to finish what we start. In the book she uses practical applications combined with Biblical truth to make her points. It is an easy read. What I liked the best is that each point has a current relevant example from Nicki’s own life and in the next chapter she uses the story of Ruth of make the same point, contrasting someone prone to quit with Ruth, one who didn’t quit.
Nicki was convicted by the verse in Luke 16:10 when she wrote the book:
He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.
Some quotes from the book that really stuck me were:
“A committed woman learns to choose what she wants most over what she wants now.” (i.e. set goals, don’t think you have to have everything now)
What is important to you? What is important to God?
“Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become reality.” This is so true!
“Refinement becomes redemption when we fulfill our responsibility to wait in expectation for the Redeemer to carry out HIS plans.”
Are you in a time of refinement? Romans 8:18 says: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” Where does your dependency rest during times of refinement, on yourself or God?
“Living under the covering of God means we are asking God to ‘see over’ our lives.”
Am I open to the movement of God in my life? How can I share what I have not experienced? Am I living under God’s covering? Am I open to him “overseeing” my life?
One of the excuses I usually use to either to quit on my commitment or not do to something is “I don’t feel like it.” Do you use this excuse too? Well Nicki convicted me on this. Just remember these are Nicki words not mine: (1) “Commitment has nothing to do with feelings; (2) My defeat comes from my thought and actions.” Wow! She continues on with “We can’t always control what happens to us, but we can control our reactions.” Isn’t this so true in life. We are always reacting with our feelings. We let our feelings take over allowing bitterness and anger to build up when things don’t go our way, or when something happens to us over which we have no control. How about when someone else doesn’t fulfil their commitment. How do you react? Do you get mad or angry, or become bitter?
The Bible has a lot to say about bitterness and anger and how it can affect our lives.
Job 10:1 “I am disgusted with my life. I will give vent to my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.”
Acts 8:23 “For I see you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by wickedness.”
Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice.”
Hebrew 12:15 “Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and defiling many.”
Proverbs 14:16 “A wise person is cautious and turns from evil, but a fool is easily angered and is careless.”
Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but one slow to anger calms strife
James 1:19-20 “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.”
I am the only one that can control my reactions. I want my actions, reactions, and feelings to reflect my commitment as a follower of Jesus Christ.
I have had Philippians 4:11 posted on my desk for many years.
“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.”
So the next time you can’t make a commitment to do something, are thinking about quitting on something you have commit to do, feel like procrastinating or letting your feelings control you, or are showing apathy. Ask yourself, Why? Why are you quitting? Why are you reacting this way? Why are you anger at that person? Take a really hard look at why you are making these decisions. Appreciate what you have and give it some time and prayer before you react. Are you acting as the world would have you act? Or are you fulfilling your commitment to do what God has called you to do even when you don’t feel like it? Do you jump into a commitment due to the pressure of others? Are you allowing yourself to become defeated when you don’t commit, spiraling down into a world of defeat so you don’t even try? Don’t be a quitter. Be a Ruth.
Ruth committed to going with Naomi. She fulfilled her commitment even when things around her looked bleak. She could have let feelings keep her back, but she moved ahead in faith. She didn’t allow anger and bitterness at her situation to keep her from going out and finding food, working tirelessly. Ruth was not in the ideal situation but she kept herself open to God working in her life. She stayed the task even when Naomi gave her some crazy things to do. She met the needs of others around her even when she didn’t have much herself. She kept moving forward in faith that she could accomplish what she started. She learned to be content with the life she was given which allowed her life and situation to improve as well as Naomi’s. And in the end, God approved and gave her a husband and child.
So grab Nicki’s book and read it for yourself. Let God speak to you. Don’t live in defeat as a quitter. Excel in the commitments where God has planted you. As you read: Let your thoughts become words, your words become actions, and your actions become reality. Think in the long-term not in immediate gratification. Remember: “Refinement becomes redemption when we fulfill our responsibility to wait in expectation for the Redeemer to carry out HIS plans.”
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Stingy eyes evidence of the tears the day before as I tried to insert my contacts lenses I pondered to myself how in recent history I had gone through a record number of contact lenses evidence of multiple crying episodes. The day before, my friend had declared she was moving away. I’ve heard it said that major events and good things occur in threes. Like three pregnant women at the same time, three blind mice, the three little pigs, the three primary colors from which every other color can find its basic origins. The ships that carried Christopher Columbus’ to find The new World: The Nina, the Pinta, and The Santa Maria. The three cord strand that is not easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12): The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus’ resurrection after 3 Days. I could go on and on. Well maybe not me, but with help of an internet search engine I could.
So when the for the third time a sweet dear friend told me she was moving away all I could do was cry. It was a true answer to prayer for her and for her family, but for me, it was heartache. For the others whose lives she had invested in, it was sad. I’d watched her over the last several years, she had been the very words of Jesus that had come to life for me.
Jesus said in Matthew 25: 36-40:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
My friend, she had fed me. She fed me on multiple occasions, but one of the most memorable was when we were moving, living out of boxes, and she called me and said, “Hey! I have a Beef Bonapart that I am bringing to you Martins right now.” There was no time to protest, no time to argue, she didn’t even give me the option to say no. She brought that delicious baked pasta right to my front door, handed it over, said, “Enjoy! I love you!” and she left.
That evening I was tired, I was stinky, I had worked all day in preparation of my new living quarters and I was hungry. I’d long ago resolved that dinner would come in the form of a grease stained paper bag, with some mediocre fast food option to sustain me through the night. Yet, there I was sitting at a makeshift table with my family, enjoying a homemade dinner on a paper plate, with a plastic fork, she’d brought so we could eat that pasta dish.
She’d invited me in countless times, even in the days when she barely knew me. I was in essence a stranger and she opened her home and welcomed my rowdy Martins and me. She told me once, regarding her Mama’s house, “Mimi’s house isn’t fancy but it is welcoming.” I knew exactly what she meant, for her house was the same. It wasn’t fancy, but is was warm and welcoming for sure.
She didn’t exactly clothe me, except she daily reminded me that Colossians 3:12 tells us to, “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” She reminded me by being dressed that way herself. She challenged me to dress the same way, to exhibit compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
I can honestly say I’ve not been in prison physically, shackled up and sentenced to serve jail time by a judge, but I have been shackled up spiritually. I’ve been so fearful and anxious that it were as if my extremities were shackled to the wall. She knew I was in jail, that I couldn’t free myself from those things. She didn’t have a key to liberate me, but she knew the One who did, and she would intercede to Him on my behalf. Both in my hearing and not. She would pray for me and I can honestly say, there were times I never told a soul that I was wrestling yet that did not stop her, she would sit with me and she would pray.
I have been sick. She has prayed for vomit and pain, for test results and for strength. She has prayed for peace and for comfort. She has prayed without ceasing not just for me, but for countless others as well. Heaven alone knows that astounding number. She taught me the benefit of “Well, let’s just pray right now.” When she would be asked to pray for someone or some situation in particular, she demonstrated there truly was no time like the present. She’d say the aforementioned statement and then she’d get to it, petitioning the King for healing. I am, I was, one of the least of these.
When my friend announced her leaving, I cried because there are some kinds of change of which, I am not a fan. I cried because I know that she is so much like Jesus that I would miss the reminders of Him, (she would argue this point with me here, further demonstrating her humility and supporting my statement.) We prayed together that day, and she reminded me of a solid truth, “When you walk with the Lord, change is always in your favor.” As the time came for her to embark on the new phase of life and new adventure and ministry Jesus had already prepared for her, I was challenged. Unknowingly she has challenged me, and Jesus clarified that challenge.
Jesus speaks to me somewhat unconventionally. He essentially said to me, that I wouldn’t be missin’ her and the Jesus in her so much if I acted more like Him. If I would take the time to do for others the very things my friend taught me to do.
The King’s word says in Proverbs 7:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” I’ve not been trained in the metallurgic arts, but I know enough to know this is absolutely the truth, for I was a rusty, dull, piece of iron, heavy and laden with fear when along came my friend, who acts like Jesus and helped to sharpen this ol’ gal up.
So here it is, the dawning of another year. Memories of the passing year linger–reflections of intimate talks with dearest friends, adventures with too quickly growing children, lessons learned and fears faced. It’s been a tough year, far too full of change. My oldest baby leaving the nest, opening the first pages of a new chapter in her life. A chapter that reluctantly catapulted my husband and I into a new season of parenting. Precious friends moving hundreds of miles away, and some taking their first breaths in the Far Greater Country.
As I ponder how much has changed in 12 short months, I intentionally adjust my focus to the goodness of God. A dear friend reminds me often, “When you are walking with God, change is always in your favor.” I didn’t fully understand what she meant until this year. Now I know that while change can be good, change is a trial. James 1:4 says that trials grow us into maturity, a maturity that makes us perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Change is part of the refining process. Refining is the process that draws us nearer to the heart of God. Refining is painful. It causes us to step deeper into the waters of truth. When you step deeper into those waters, your heart will be wrecked. You will never be the same. And I’m not. And that’s a very, very good thing.
What God has shown me most this year is His faithfulness. He is constant. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will never leave me nor forsake me. He is for me. He is with me. He is all I need. He is enough. Inhabiting and clinging to His faithfulness this year has opened my eyes to the majesty and beauty and power of who He is. It has made me courageous enough to trust Him, wholeheartedly. It has given me new eyes to look for Him in the big things and, most importantly, in the small things.
Every year when the after Christmas quietness settles in, I reflect on the year that’s passed and ponder the new year. I sit before my Abba and ask. What do I need to focus on? How do you want to grow me? How can I serve You? How can I fall more in love with You?
Last year was a year of learning humility; a year of learning to trust when I cannot see; of learning that God keeps His promises. And what this year? I’m a bit hesitant to put into words what my Abba is engraving in my heart. But I keep coming back to this one thought. This will be the year of living dangerously. What does that mean? I don’t know. But I know I want to trust God more. I want to step my feet into the Jordan confident the Lord will part the waters and do what only He can. I want to become small, so He can become great. I don’t want to despise the day of small 
things, but look for Him in the big things, and in the seemingly insignificant minutiae of life. Will you join me in being audacious enough to take risks, to step out of the boat, to genuinely lose your life only to find it in Christ?
To live dangerously involves risk. If you are willing to truly surrender all and follow Christ, it will be perilous. Jesus will upend the tables of your heart and He will wreck your life. Honestly, that does not make me want to run headlong into the new year. But I am asking the King for a willing heart. And I am asking Him what it means to live dangerously for Him. Here are a few things I’m asking myself. Ponder them with me and, if you will, join me in living dangerously for the King this year.
Would you risk setting aside the busy-ness of life to simply “be still and know” God?
Would you risk putting to death your visions of the future and let God direct your steps?
Would you risk setting aside the good to seek after the best?
Would you risk setting aside service for God to simply sit at His feet and fall in love with Him?
Would you risk letting the Word of God come alive and burn in your heart?
Would you risk loving those who are unlovable?
Would you risk letting God reveal the darkest recesses of your heart?
Would you risk completely forgiving those who have wounded you?
Would you risk trusting Him when you cannot understand? When the road is long? When the road is hard? When the way is dark?
Would you risk speaking of His love when it is uncomfortable or awkward or inconvenient?
Would you risk seeking God wholeheartedly? Asking God boldly? Knocking on the door of truth persistently?
Would you risk serving God even when you are unnoticed and unappreciated?
Would you risk finding joy in the difficult days?
Would your risk your heart and mind and soul to the painful process of being transformed?
Would you risk becoming less so the King can become greater?
Would you risk losing your life to find it in Christ?
Would you risk loving Jesus more than your own life?
Would you risk complete obedience to the King?
Would you risk opening every corner of your heart and mind to Him?
Would you risk letting God know you and love you completely?
Would you join me in this year of living dangerously for Jesus? He is alone is God and He is worth it. More than worth it. You will never be the same. And that is a very, very good thing.
Yes, God still works miracles! A few years ago, I was blessed to be a part of one! There is no other explanation of how all these people and circumstances could “just fall together”!
It all began on a fall Saturday morning. I was in Montgomery at His Vessel Ministries attending a meeting. After the meeting, I ran into an old friend. We’d met through a Discipleship class at the Ministry. As we were talking she shared that she and her husband had decided to adopt a child through the foster care system. They had been married 24 years and unable to have children. They now wanted desperately to adopt a child. She asked me to pray for them because the foster system was so overwhelmed with placing children in foster homes there wasn’t much time to find them a child to adopt. Immediately someone came to my mind. “I might know of a child.” Her face lit up like a Christmas tree! I didn’t want to get her hopes up, but I was already getting excited myself!
On my way home to Cullman, I called my friend. She and her husband have been foster parents for several years. I knew they had a baby that would be up for adoption soon.
When I told her the story, she said, “We have decided to adopt the baby. But, the three girls we have now are getting closer to being ready for adoption!”
Wow! Three girls! She only said they wanted one! I better check. She might not be ready for 3 little girls. Well, not only was she interested, they would have taken them at that very moment if possible! I reminded her, “This is not final yet!” But already a seed of love had been planted in her heart.
I invited her to come up and visit us the following Sunday. They went to church with us and my friends with the girls then ate lunch with us. I know you’ve heard “love at first sight,” but it was! The girls and this couple fell in love! One of the girls climbed up in the woman’s lap, looked her in the eyes, and said, “Can you be my mommy?” Yes, we cried!!! And the other two were glued to the husband.
They of course, didn’t want to leave, but they had to go back to Montgomery. The seeds of love were growing! In my heart I was praying that they wouldn’t be disappointed. But I was also praying that God would join these girls and this couple.
Another amazing detail, the women had met before. My friend in Cullman had been to a meeting at the Montgomery friend’s house with me. I had forgotten that. So, they were already connected which helped the process of adoption.
The couple applied for respite care, and 2 months later they were taking the girls for weekends. All of us were praying that somehow God would put this all together. But, actually God was the originator of it all! Through court dates, and appeals, wondering and waiting, God continued to bring it all together.
Of course there were challenges, these girls had been through the trauma of being taken from their home, living in foster homes, and not understanding all of this. Yes, they had behavior issues. But the two mothers were able to help each other through this.
A year later, the husband made a call to their lawyer telling him they were finally ready for a court date. Usually this takes months; they didn’t have months. His father had some serious health issues, they needed to go to Texas to take care of him. And he, being in the military, had been transferred to Mississippi.
That night he got a call from the lawyer. “Can you be here in the morning.” ?!
The next morning, three little girls became “their little miracles”!
All glory be to God from whom all blessings flow!
Yes, I believe in miracles! A husband and wife married 25 years decide to adopt a foster child.
Three little girls half a state away needed parents. And God had a plan!
He always does!
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). Matthew 1:23
To Mary, he was an unexpected baby and the son of the Most High. Jesus was also her sweet firstborn baby who she loved and nurtured.
To Joseph, he was a son that he didn’t father, but received in obedience through faith because of a dream that was to be played out before his very eyes.
To the shepherds, he was Good News in a manger that they were told to go and see. They were the first to get to see him and then they went and told!
Elizabeth called Jesus “my Lord” when Mary walked into the room.
The wise men from the east who followed the star, came looking for a king to worship. He was worth a visit from a far land.
Herod perceived the newborn king as a threat and sought to kill him.
Ponder in your own life who Jesus is to you TODAY. We come up with great sounding, quick answers of who we know Jesus to be – what we’ve heard from others and what we’ve read. But think for a minute on who Jesus is to you right now, deep in your heart.
Is he a close friend and confidant that you talk to every day?
Does your heart overflow with gratitude for provisions from your Jehovah Jireh?
Is he your source of strength?
Healer?
Is he a distant acquaintance that you will get back to when there is a little more time? (we’ve all been there a few times)
One blogger often refers to him as KING. You can hear how she admires him with the words she writes.
A young lady struggling with self-image is learning that he is her peace and He shines brightly on her face.
A not-so-old widow says he is an awesome friend and confidant, one she can trust and a whole lot more.
The quiet one says he is her comforter.
“The strength holding me together” said a wife and mom who juggles a family and a job and aging parents and a lot more.
The brand new mom says he is an innocent, sinless baby. Perfect.
He is faithful to one who has never had a person be faithful to her.
Jesus is hope to the mom and peace to the little girl in the family that is struggling to hold it together some days.
He is our savior and our Lord. Our strength, wisdom, redeemer. The one who is closer than a brother. Revelation 1:5 says he loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly. He is GOD WITH US. That thought… It’s almost more than a mind can grasp and such a comfort and cause for peace even in the most difficult of circumstances. We may have a daily change in our view of the Lord, and see him differently depending on our circumstances in life. In Hebrews 13:8, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. How awe-inspiring is it that Jesus never changes and yet as our needs change each day, He already is sufficient to meet that need in our lives.
Remind yourself of who Immanuel is to you in this season of celebration. He is truly the reason and we do have cause to celebrate.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
We sat at the table, she had coffee, I had sweet tea. We were near giddy just to be with each other. Years ago when life was different, when our kids were little and we went to the same places every day, when circumstances forced us into each other’s lives, and it was not uncommon to see each other multiple times a day such a giddiness would have been absent, such an anticipated and leisurely meal likely would have been too. Back then, we would daily talk and there were times that it had been literal hours that we had seen the each other last. But as it happens with life, things change and children grow. People move. Jobs are different. “Seasons” – that tends to be how I hear it referred to, and for a season we were inseparable. This season of life though is much different.
The online dictionary defines a season in this way – season : a time characterized by a particular circumstance or feature : a suitable or natural time or occasion: an indefinite period of time : while. The King’s Word says to everything there is a season. (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
I reckon calling different times of life a “season” seems to make perfect sense. Seasons change and life changed, so we went from seeing each other every single day to seeing each other on special occasions and when we happen to be at the same place at the same time. When that happens I have been known to squeal with excitement. As we sat there soaking in our time and happenings in our families’ lives, drinking our caffeinated beverage of choice, amidst an endless supply of buffalo check and country store decor surrounding us, “Season’s Greetings” made its way into my mind (defined by the same above source as: an expression of goodwill at Christmas or the New Year) I wondered where the expression had found its origins.
Our conversation meandered, we have always had difficulty staying on task. We filled in gaps of time with parallel world events, our conversations woven around the One Whom we both love and whom this Season, the Christmas Season, is about.
As we talked I pictured in my imagination a woven tapestry, our words making a picture and the thread holding it all together is Christ, the one that binds us to the support frame of the loom, Jesus. Pull that central thread out, and the tapestry would all unravel, the loom and colorful threads that make up our lives would come crashing to the ground and be nothing more than a mound of tangled up mess. I do tend to have an overactive imagination and a wandering mind. However, the reality is, we would both tell you, that Jesus alone holds us together. As we filled in those gaps, we laughed until we cried, we cried until we laughed, she and I caught up as best we could. She has always been a lover of jewelry and she was adorned that day as per her usual. On her right arm I noted the pearl colored baubles and jewel encrusted bracelet, the simple silver bangle that my 40-year-old eyes could not decipher what the small writing said. I examined and must have had a quizzical look because she said, “Oh, this one, this was a gift from a family. It says ‘Make a difference.”
I nodded. I knew what she meant, and she went on to point to other things, to show me pictures of and tell me about the gifts she had received. In light of the Season, I thought it fitting.
Her career revolves around loss. It wasn’t her first career. She was, she is an accountant, CPA I think is what it’s called. She’s a numbers person. I am not. That career was like a springboard that catapulted her into her now second, late-in-life, go back to college career. A calling is a better description.
It boggles the mind of many, myself included, whenever she begins to talk about it I just say,
“I couldn’t do it.”
Her answer always the same, “Yes you could.”
“No Ma’am. I could not” My reply also always the same.
We have had this conversation on multiple occasions.
As the tapestry grew and our conversation continued, we talked about the gifts, how each one tells a story and ministers to her. How she looks at them and doesn’t see an object but sees people who gave them. The Givers have sealed a place for themselves in her heart. She doesn’t say it but I can read it in her eyes. She rubbed her index finger over the imprinted words “Make a Difference.” Her eyes were shiny with tears and on the verge of running down her cheeks, she looked at me and said as if speaking to the Giver rather than me. More rhetorical than not.
“You lost what you love and went through a very hard time and I get the gift. I struggle with that.”
For a moment there was a pause in our conversation. She used the scratchy paper napkin that had been rolled around her silverware, to dab her eyes.
“That’s Jesus.”
The words were out of my mouth before I knew it. I even questioned if I had said them out-loud. I saw her nodding and dabbing her eyes and realized I had actually said them out-loud. A second time, stronger and confident of my declaration.
“That is Jesus.”
He was born the humblest of births, lived a life of simplicity, loved on and cared for the ones unworthy, the ones the world did not even recognize as people and yet He willingly gave His life as a ransom. He gave it up so that we can receive the gift of salvation. The gift of Hope. The gift of Peace. The gift of God with Us.
I reminded her again that she was for many, the face of Jesus. That she was a glimpse of who He is and that He had placed her where she was for just a time as this. Our conversation meandered on and by the time the lunch crowd had come in, we determined our breakfast meeting had to adjourn.
The tapestry of our lives filled in a bit more, holding firmly to that thread of Christ. We hugged and promised it wouldn’t be so long until we saw each other again. My cheeks sore from laughter, my eyes stinging from tears, I was filled up and happy as we parted, better than I was when we had met.
I giggled as I recalled our conversation, challenged as I pondered on parts of it.
This Season, this Christmas Season, this Season of life, this Season, I will choose to acknowledge and worship the Giver. The One who gave His very life in exchange for mine and I’m likely to find myself in the very same frame of mind as my friend, humbled and moved to tears, that another would suffer loss and joyfully give me a gift.
Season’s Greetings Indeed!
Merry Christmas!
And then I don’t feel so bad.
The Christmas season rings with the chords of this uplifting song. Although it’s not really a Christmas themed song, we regularly hear it each December. Perhaps it’s because of an old habit TV stations had back in the day of airing The Sound of Music each Christmas Eve. Or maybe it’s because at this season we make out our Christmas wish lists like little children and we think of all the things we wish we had. Or it could be just a carry over from the Thanksgiving holiday of thinking about our blessings. Whatever the reason I love it! It reminds me to focus on the beautiful things, the small things, the ordinary overlooked blessings in our lives.
As I sat at breakfast today in a beautiful hotel restaurant while accompanying my husband on a business trip, my mind flooded with thoughts. The Eggs Benedict, that I got to enjoy in a leisurely manner, is something that I only eat once a year when I’m on this business trip with him and have a chef to prepare it for me. It propelled me into thoughts of my favorite things:
Those are a few of my favorite things.
What about you? Why don’t you make a list and check it twice of all your favorite things.
There’s something about that exercise that makes a heart light and joyful rather than gloomy. This time of year with its lack of sunlight many folks find themselves depressed or discouraged. So a thorough examination of the blessings and beauty and love that God has put in our lives is like a dose of good medicine. In fact Proverbs reminds us that “a joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” (17:22)
So think of the song above. Examine the pictures or the suggestion list. Or just let your emotions roll with the beauty, wonder, joy, delight, excitement, love, relationships, blessings, and every positive thing you can dwell on today! Remember, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)
Things of Beauty and Wonder…
…music that stirs the soul
…artwork that speaks to you
…kisses on the cheek
…holding the fragile hand of a frail mother or father who has lived a long life
…the lisping wisdom of a 4-year-old
…the smell of a baby
…floating on gentle waves
…gazing into the innocent eyes of a child
…snuggling with your grown children reminiscing times past
…hot cocoa with marshmallows on a frigid day
…a crackling fire in the fireplace
…jumping in piles of leaves
…swimming in the lake on a hot summer’s day
…hearing the words “I Love You”
…climbing to the top of a lighthouse or mountain and soaking in the view as your reward
…dancing in the rain
…kissing tender baby feet
…making cookies with a friend
…decorating the Christmas tree
…a sweet breeze scattering the white blossoms of a cherry tree in the spring
…strolling down a tree-lined lane
…candlelit evenings
…dipping your toes in a cool, babbling brook
…the crash of waves
…that sudden insight from the Word of God.
At this season of celebrating the Savior’s birth, take time to follow the example of Mary the mother of Jesus. Ponder your treasured things and be blessed!
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19
Sometimes I need a sign. Like a for reals, written on the wall kind of sign. In the moments when I am not looking for them is when they find me and are most beneficial 
to me. Sometimes I find myself searching for them more than I do the One who gives them. In those times I have to back up and regain my perspective. I have on occasion had a sign intervention. Like the time, when I was 9 month pregnant with a baby that was the fulfillment of a promise to this once barren woman and a sign led me right into such a distracted state that I got to ride in an ambulance for the first time in my life.
That morning my expanding belly had forced me to move my seat back. I buckled my seatbelt and set out on a drive I’d made multiple times. I was on a particularly curvy road when I looked up to see a sign congratulating my friends on the arrival of their new baby. In fact their New baby Girl had just been born and the sign read “Congratulations! Margaret and Larry! It’s a Girl!” About the time I read Girl, inserted her name, and before I could process it all I was sitting in a car full of smoke from airbag deployments. 
In a matter of seconds I had managed to wreck my car. In a matter of moments more I found myself on the side of a road with a paramedic placing a giant IV in my bruised arm. And within an hour I was taken to the Emergency Room to check on the baby I was carrying.
Panic and Shock occurred simultaneously. Until that moment I did not know that was even a possibility. I was protected that day. God protected me and the life within me. Despite the force of impact, the baby I was carrying was fine, and so was I. He didn’t wait too much longer after that day to make his appearance. Perhaps he decided to be born lest he risk another near miss resulting from my distracted state. A few weeks later I delivered a baby boy. (Just recently that baby girl whose birth was announced on that sign turned 14 years old. My own baby also recently turned 14.) Conclusion. Be present in the moment, focus on the here and now.
Another sign intervention, with much different results happened some time later. I was overwhelmed and afraid about someone I love dearly. Fear gripped me and I was scared 
senseless. I was literally begging the Father to intervene, bargaining with everything I had in me. Every Moment I that was not consumed by other things I was trying to figure a way out of the most certain detriment that was sure to befall my loved one.
I eventually reached the obvious conclusion. Apart from Jesus’ intervention, there was no way out. I begged Him to show me it was going to be fine, and I am honest to goodness not kidding, I rounded a curve and there spelled out in a marquee-like fashion were the words “Everything is going to be OK.” I literally turned my car around and took a picture of those words, After I snapped the picture. I sat in my car and wept because I knew no matter what, everything really was going to be okay. That was nearly a decade ago. Conclusion. No matter the outcome, God is in control, His ways are best and I can trust that it will be okay.
In the late winter to early spring of 2015, I was having a bad day. The kind of bad day that lasts for weeks. I was walking to my assigned task for the day when I happened upon another kind of sign. Painted on the side of a wagon. I speculated on how it had come to be right in my path, right when I needed it. I had concluded, perhaps it was abandoned as a transportation device when its occupant declared “I can walk by myself” or its cumbersome nature proved too challenging to continue the journey onward. Maybe it’s squeaky wheel was too much an annoyance to overrule its functionality. Regardless of the circumstances that rendered it in my path on my way to do what I do, it’s message from My King was a welcome and encouraging reminder. He is indeed with me always…even until the end of the Age. Conclusion: I am not alone, He is with me always.
There is a Pastor I adore that has often said “God speaks to us in the Language we can hear.” I agree. God knows that if the messages I have received from the sign interventions had come in other ways, I likely would not have received them, but because I needed a sign in that moment, He gave me one. He is good like that. The reality is though, I do not have to ride around looking at the marquee for a sign, a word of encouragement or direction to take. In fact He has given me a huge 66 books contained in one big, best-selling book. The Bible, His word is full of direction, a road map of sorts. His word is a treasure trove full of reminders of what I need in the moment I need them. I just need to be looking for them.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21
I suppose it’s because it heaps correction and conviction on my own head. But I don’t shy away from truth just because it hurts. So here goes…
On an average day I think of myself as a “good” person. Overall I obey the scriptures, treat people decently, act morally, and haven’t broken any laws (except possibly speeding and acting selfishly towards my husband). You probably think of yourself in a similar way. Even people who don’t live upright lives often still look upon themselves as good people. We humans can lie to ourselves and deny reality, deny sin.
Sin is a huge issue in our modern society even though society at large avoids the word and the concept of sin. Just look at contemporary politicians and the scandals surrounding them. But let’s not get to feeling all self-righteous. Though we may not have committed the particular sin a politician is accused of in the media, we have committed our own sin. Don’t think so? Just stick with me a bit.
So what is sin anyway? How would you define sin?
We would probably all include murder, robbery, assault and such things in our definition of sin. We readily agree that anything that breaks one of the 10 Commandments is sin. But then… we back pedal when it gets to some of the “lesser” of the commandments. You know what I mean. “Bearing false witness” – we justify with the unspoken excuse, I didn’t really lie. I just revealed the part of the story that doesn’t make me look bad. “Honor your father and mother” – Oh, but you don’t know MY father, surely God didn’t mean for me to honor him? “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” – I know it’s supposed to be a day of reverence, but we have to… You can finish the sentence. And I won’t even dig into commands 1 though 3 about no other gods before me, no graven images, and not taking the Lord’s name in vain. These 3 have fallen by the wayside with most of our modern world. But these 10 commandments only scratch the surface of the “what is sin” question.
A quick search in the new testament brings up 1 John 5:17 which states, “All wrongdoing (or unrighteousness) is sin” depending on which version you read. Well that surely broadens the definition!
Our world doesn’t see an action as sin if it is done in self-defense. In this modern world gone crazy, if you do something to me it’s wrong. But if I have a reason for doing the same thing then it’s not wrong. We see that in our teens – How dare she steal my boyfriend? But didn’t you do the same thing to someone else last month? Well that was different, I loved him. We see it in political parties – we criticize another party for loyalty to a candidate who has displayed corrupt behavior, but excuse those in our own party that we want to believe in. We see it in the riots where people are – sometimes rightfully, sometimes not – protesting over a perceived injustice, and then they turn that around and act unjustly to others by injuring, destroying property, and burning buildings of innocent people. Society excuses itself if it feels it has a reason while condemning another whether there is reason or not. Scripture speaks to this societal phenomenon also, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5) Are you justifying your sin yet accusing another? Let’s get the stuff out of our eyes first so that we can see clearly. Sin blinds us to truth many times.
Our world ignores and belittles sin. Most often these days people simply ignore the idea of sin, unless a wrong is done to them personally they (and we) tend to let it slide. These progressive times have yielded progressive thinkers that see sin as an antiquated idea that does not fit in our society. Have we the church let this tendency subtly slip into our thinking? Do we find ourself thinking, “Well that’s not as bad as ____,” or justifying our actions with our selfish reasoning and lame excuses? Have you and I forgotten the principal of Ephesians 5 that teaches us that sin is improper for God’s holy people and we are to walk as children of light? Verse 11 of that chapter warns us to “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness.”
Our world today tends to only see it as sin if it’s an action. But God’s word clearly teaches that the sins of the heart are just that – SIN. In some ways sins of the heart are worse, because they are like the seed or the root of sinful actions. Thoughts yield actions. Luke 15:18-19 tells us that “the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person.” Do we regularly inspect the depths of our heart and thought life for that root of sin and weed it out? Do we regularly hold our inner thoughts and motivations up to the light of scripture and allow the cleansing of God’s word to flush out our iniquity?
Often in our struggle against any kind of sin we fall into the trap Joshua Harris mentions in his book Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is). While talking about content that we allow to enter our minds he says, “…Instead of seeing how much I can avoid, I spend my energy trying to see how much I can handle.” (page 118) This is so true. Our enemy lures us into thinking we’re strong enough to play around with things that lead us to sin. We’re like people gathering beautiful stones on the rim of a canyon, getting closer and closer to the edge for more trinkets until our foot begins to slide into the abyss of sin and it’s too late to rescue ourselves.
Susanna Wesley, mother of those godly brothers of the 1700’s John and Charles Wesley, is quoted to have said the following:
“Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.” (Letter, June 8, 1725)Wow! Even allowing myself to speed because I’ve run late looks like questionable behavior with this thought in mind. My breaking a simple law of the road makes my heart callous to being obedient. If I allow myself to break one law it makes it just that much easier to break another, especially a command that God has given us, but people around us ignore.
So where does that leave us? Do we follow the ways of the world? Or do we stand as beacons of light upholding truth and righteousness while still loving and gently warning of the dangers of sin? Do we give in to little sins because everyone else does? Or do we avoid anything that impairs our conscience and obscures our sense of God? Do we participate in things that leave us in bondage to sin? To each of us scripture says it is our choice each day. “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) The choice is clear; go with God or not. Choose wisely.
Priceless 