Pray

     Often as Christians we speak of forgiveness and keeping our eyes focused on God especially through the bad times. We tell our self that we will do both when the need arises. However, I do not think that we are capable of preparing ourselves for how ‘bad’ the ‘bad’ can be. Last Friday, I shared an illustration about the good and bad tasting ingredients of a cake. My friend shared that illustration with me. She had heard it the day before she received the worst tasting ingredient of life that she could image.
      Her sixteen year old son had been spreading his wings. However, like many of our teenage children he spread them in the wrong direction and so they were keeping a firm grip on him and his activites. However, after months of discipline he was demonstrating some really good behavior. So, when the night came that he begged his father to go to a friend’s birthday party and stay the night, after some reluctance and a phone call to make sure the parents were going to be home, the father agreed he could. The next morning while they were at church, they found out that their son had overdosed on drugs at that party and had died. They also found out that the parents were the ones that had provided the alcohol and the drugs! These parents have not had to be held accountable for their actions because in Oklahoma there is no law by which to prosecute these parents. My friend has had to learn two lessons of the Christian journey the hard way. She has had to learn to forgive these parents and she has had to learn a dependency on God’s goodness she didn’t think she could live through. She has done an amazing job over the last few years doing both. She has let God’s love, comfort, and grace flow through her and she is a shining example of God’s provision.
      Before life hits us, to whatever degree, we need to build a strong foundation in our life with Jesus. It is important that we learn and grow when we are not in the valleys of life, so we can walk fearlessly through the valleys when they come with our eyes on our Shepherd! Are you strengthening your foundation?
     I shared this story with you today not only to share the amazing faith of my friend, but to ask you to pray for her today. This weekend was a tough time for her when she attended the wedding of her son’s best friend. All of his friends were there and her heart broke because she misses not seeing her son grow up and experience the things we all look forward too. Also, there is a law that has been working through the Oklahoma legislator for the last few years. It is called Cody’s law. It is being heard today at 4:30 in the judiciary committee to determine if the law will be presented to the floor for approval. The law would make social hosting of minors with drugs and alcohol a prosecutable offense. She will be speaking today. Cody was her son and she has worked hard since his death to try and hinder this from happening to another family. You can go to Cody’s Law on Facebook if you are interested in more facts.

Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time – pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something.

2 Thessalonians 1:11 (The Message)

From Bad to Good

     As I have already told you, I started a new job and I totally love it! On my third day, I came home thinking, “Dang, I had so much fun today, I think I would have done it for free!” Now, don’t get me wrong. I am very thankful that I do not have too! I am not sure how long that feeling would last. I haven’t experienced that kind of excitement about my job in years. In fact, I have not enjoyed my job in over two years. Many times I wish I had not gone to work for my former employer. However, today I realized how much better I am at my current job because of the experience I had received over the last few years. No matter how hard the last two years has been for me, I am thankful for them. They have made me a better person and a better plan administrator for the company I am now working for currently. 
     If you are walking through a valley in your life . . .hold on! Focus on loving God regardless of your circumstance and God will take this valley and use it for something good in your life. Recently, a good friend of mine shared a story that shows this spiritual principle in wonderful way.
     At the conference Bishop T.D. Jakes preached a message called Stir Up the Gift. In this message he likened life to his amazement in his mother’s ability to make a cake. He said as a young boy he would watch her in the kitchen as she gathered all the ingredients and in anticipation of the great tasting cake he would sometimes stick his finger into some of the separate ingredients and taste them. Baking powder ... yuck! Flour ... blah! Butter ... mmm! Eggs ... gross! Sugar ... yum! Vanilla ... bitter! But somehow all these bad tasting ingredients stirred together with the good made the most wonderful cake. Leave something out and the cake falls flat. That’s the way life is. The ingredients tasted separately aren’t all good, but some are sweet! Each ingredient adds something we need to learn from all our experiences and blended together with faith and the promises of God the flavor is incredible.

And we know that in all things god works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Meltdowns

     One thing I believe all women share in common, is the occasional emotional breakdown. I haven’t talked to a woman yet who has stated she has never had one. They might look different according to the person but they are definitely meltdowns. It usually comes when we are overwhelmed with the demands of life, or the menstrual calendar, or as we get older; the hormones. I have used all of these reasons for meltdowns. In fact, I just had one yesterday and hormones were the culprit! One thing I realized from my little meltdown is the problem I was having with my hormones only gave my mouth the freedom to say what I had stuffed in my soul. If I had taken my junk to the Lord and dealt with it, there would have been nothing for my mouth to feast on. All I would've had to deal with was the physical ailments due to the hormones flipping out. The other problem I realized is I stopped listening to the Lord in my emotional state. I heard him telling me to keep my mouth shout, to let it pass, but before I could process another thought the outpouring of wrong words started flowing and right behind them were the tears. The meltdown had begun. Could I have stopped it if I had stayed focused on the Lord and listened to him? Could I have stopped it if I had not stuffed feelings because I was too busy to deal with them. I think the answer is YES!
     At one of the pastor’s wife retreats I have attended, I was taught a principal of ministry and cups. We as women are constantly serving. We care for our children, our spouses, our parents, our jobs, our communities, and our church. When we are constantly ministering to others, we serve them out of our spiritual cup. We pour out a little to this person, a little to that person, and maybe a huge amount to another. Before we know it, our cup is empty. However, sometimes before we can find time to have the Lord fill our cup again, we get hit with another need. Maybe one we can't ignore because it has to do with our child or our husband. Our response is usually typical for a person who just got caught with an empty cup; it’s some form of an emotional meltdown. Ministering to others is not intended to be like this. We are to always keep our cup full, we should never empty it serving others. We are to stay connected to the Lord to the point our cup is overflowing and then we can minister to people with the overflows from our cup. This way, we never get caught with an empty cup and maybe our meltdowns will fade away. Is your cup empty, full, or overflowing?

I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.
John 15:11

A little extra: I keep a Christmas ornament on my desk of a little cup and saucer. This is a daily a daily reminder to keep my cup overflowing.

Living For Your Pupose

     I started working again on Friday! I am very happy to have a job I love.  I have worked for my CEO before and I feel blessed to work for him agian. The only think I struggle with is seeing 6:00 a.m. from outside the bed. Oh well, it is a small sacrifice! Friday, I had to drive to Oklahoma City for a meeting. I took the turnpike from Tulsa to Oklahoma City. Scripture tells us to have pillars in our life that reminds us of the great things God has done for us. That highway is a pillar in my life; it reminds me that God saved my life.
     When I was 16, I took my mom’s brand new car to Oklahoma City for a state track meet. I took a friend who was 18 and Dwayne’s brother drove back with us. We had been out in the heat all day and were driving back around 11:00 p.m. I got tired so I let my friend drive and I fell asleep in the passenger seat. I did miraculously wake up and tell my friend to stay in front of the school bus in case something happened. Something did happen. Five miles to the end of the turnpike, she fell asleep. We veered off the road. We missed a cement embankment and took out a guard rail which kept us from going off a 100 foot drop off. We totaled the car! We were all safe, though a little bruised up.
     I believed God spared us that day! Not because we are more special than others who do not make it, but because it was part of His plan. He had a purpose for the three of us and it had not been fulfilled yet. Each time I pass that spot, it reminds me of His protection and I ask myself the question, “am I living up to His purpose for my life?”
     I ask you the same question. Are you living out the purpose God has planned for your life?

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

Ephesians 1: 11-12

Gentle and Quiet?

     Two words that regrettably people would not use to describe me are gentle and quiet. Yet, scripture tells us to be gentle and quiet. Gentleness is one of the characteristics of the fruit of the spirit. We think of gentle as weak, soft, easy, and quiet as the void of words. This can be frustrating to me because I feel that God gives different personalities and though I am responsible for keeping my personality in check, I do talk more than some personalities. Yet, I know that God does not set me up to fail. So, I must not get it. When you don’t understand something from the worlds perspective always go to God’s Word. Let’s look at what those words mean according to the Vine’s dictionary. Gentleness= fair, moderate, patient, not insisting on the letter of the law, nurturing . Quiet= tranquility rising from within. According to these definition having a quiet and gentle spirit is much more attainable for me.
     In seminary, God gave me a woman that was a visual example to me of a quiet and gentle spirit. She loves to talk as much as I do, but she does it with the kindest tone and expression. She has her opinions and are firm on her beliefs but she does not stand on a soap box pushing it on others. She is funny and sweet. She is a magnet for people. She has spoken at three retreats for me and never has any speaker been so loved and admired. It is her spirit that is awesome. She also has an amazing talent. She is a great ventriloquist. She has the ability to make you cry and laugh with her little friends. One time for fun, she got my husband and another pastor friend of ours on stage with her. She told them to open their mouths without talking every time she touched the back of their necks. She is a small woman and they are two tall, big guys. She stood above them on a step and used them for her dummies. She would talk for each of them as she signaled them to open their mouth. It was quite amusing.
     I learned a valuable lesson from this on how we should live out a gentle and quiet spirit. We need to be a dummy and let God be the controller. We should open our mouths on His signal and let Him give us the words. Let Him pull all the strings. If we do this we can’t help but demonstrate to the world a Godly, quiet and gentle spirit.

It should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:4 (NIV)

FIX IT!

     Last weekend Dwayne and I held our yearly marriage retreat. We always leave saying this was the best one ever but this year really was something special. We brought in people and couples to share their marriage testimonies. Testimonies are so powerful because they put a real life story behind principles. It saddens me that so few are willing to give testimonies, especially when it involves mistakes they have made because those are the most life changing for people.
     One of the people who shared at the retreat was a woman who had experienced some marital struggles with her husband. They both really wanted to fix things but they got into the rut of waiting for the other one to do something. They finally started addressing their issues and their marriage strengthened. However, soon afterwards her husband was killed in a car wreck while he was running an errand as she prepared dinner. The message to her testimony that resonated for me was “FIX IT” while you have time! She so wishes she could go back in time and get back the time they wasted not fixing it!
     These words of wisdom can be applied to more than just our marriage: it can be applied to our spiritual life. We all know things we need to improve in our relationship with Jesus. The problem is we put it off and off and off. Things do not change this way. We tend to think we have time. However, the clock keeps ticking and ticking and ticking and we do not know when the alarm is going off! We do not know when we will see Jesus face to face. We will be accountable for what we do and what we do not do.
     Don’t waste anymore time. Fix whatever you know you need to while you still have time. You do not want to stand before Jesus and say, “I was going to do that soon, I meant to do it, I just got so busy and distracted!” May we live with the motto, Just Fix It!

Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life?

2Peter 3:11

How Do You Love?

     If there is one word that is overused in our culture, it is the word, ‘love’. When we use it for so many levels of affection, we cheapen its meaning. If I answered the random request of naming 10 things I love, it would be: God, Dwayne, my children, family, friends, ice cream, my dogs, teaching, my new boots, and animal print. However, I assure you that I do not love ice cream like I love my husband (I don't know about that! DT). Though one can be sweeter at times, the other one can love me back! If we ever made a mistake in the English language it is with the word love. It would be so much nicer if we would have adopted the Greek language’s use of love. Storge is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring. Philia includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality, and familiarity. Philia is motivated by practical reasons; one or both of the parties benefit from the relationship. Eros is passionate love, with sensual desire and longing. We use the word erotic for eros. Agape love is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is the way God loves humanity and it is the kind of love that Christians are to have for one another. One description of these types of love is that philia is a “love of the mind”, eros is a “love of the body” and agape is a “love of the soul”.
    In the New Testament only agape and philia is used in the Greek language. When you see the word love, you need to research to see which Greek word is being translated.

Looking at 1 John 4: 7-8… "Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

     The word for love in this verse is agape. We are told to unconditionally love others and the only way we can, is to love as God does. It is a sign of our salvation. It still takes work though because we have to choose to let God flow through us instead of letting our fleshly desires flow through us. We probably have heard all of this before, but the question is what does unconditional love look like in our day to day life. In reality it means that you will love someone regardless if they change or not. Applying it to husbands; it means you will love him regardless if he ever becomes more loving, picks up his socks, becomes the spiritual leader you want him to be, or if he ever remembers your birthday.
     Applying it to your children; you love them regardless if they ever say thank you, clean their room, do the dishes, clean the house, or remember your birthday.
Applying it to your friends; it means that regardless of their behavior, their attitudes, their way of doing things, their hurtful words, their lack of attention, you will always love them. Unconditional love does not focus on feelings or a deserving recipient. It is more than a feeling, more than an action, more than an attitude: it is a choice. It is choosing to allow God to love someone through us. It is not about us. It is totally about God and the recipient. It is the truest form of surrendering!
      The question to ask is not, “how is your love life?” The question we need to ponder is, “how is your agape life?”

To Love is to Trust

     I remember waiting in a waiting room at a hospital when I heard a very disturbing conversation. I was waiting in line at the information desk when the volunteer behind the desk starting speaking to a man waiting in line. It was a conversation that was painful to hear and one I would like to forget but probably never will. The woman was close to sixty. She told the man in line that as far as she was concerned she no longer had a son. She didn’t talk to her son anymore and she liked it that way. She never wants to see or talk to him again. She said she was happy to have him out of her life. I understand that her son may have done some stupid things or hurt her greatly, but she had no remorse in her words. Many people shut down relationships when they become hurt. They not only shut down relationships, they close off other ones. When some people get hurt in a marriage, they refuse to ever marry again. When some employees get hurt at work, they shut down and adopt the “I will do my job and nothing else” mentality and never invest themselves again in their job or coworkers. Some people get hurt by friends and build walls around themselves to never get close to another person again. Some people become estranged with their entire family because they feel like the black sheep. When I see people block love from flowing into their lives, it breaks my heart. Now, I realize that I am in love with love! However, I am not the only one. God thinks love is the greatest too! When we shut down our emotions in order to never experience hurt again, we are taking control of our lives and not trusting God. I learned a lesson many years ago about how everything that happens to us has been filtered through the fingers of God. That word picture has brought me much comfort. When I am going through a trial, or a test, or heartbreak, or a valley, or discipline, or a time of joy, or a mountain top experience, or a transition to a new phase of life; God has allowed it in my life for a purpose. It teaches me, grows me, develops me and molds me. I can trust His sovereignty because His sovereignty is ruled by love, not evil. Because God is love, everything that is of God is love, including His sovereignty. Once I accept that fact, I can always trust Him. If a person hurts me, God will provide me the grace to endure. It will teach me something about obedience, or forgiveness, or of God’s comfort; or it will mold me for the things that is to come in my life. It will never be wasted. If I close off relationships in my life, not only do I miss out on the blessing of love, I miss out on the spiritual growth that trusting God brings.
     How open is your heart towards love? Has hurt built walls of protection in you? People will always disappoint you, they are not perfect and sin prevails upon this earth. However, can you trust the protection of your heart to God? Will you accept that whatever comes into your life has been filtered through God’s fingers of love? It is not about trusting people, it is about trusting God!

For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
Jeremiah 29:11

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Love One Another!

     Today we hear a lot about love but do we really understand what it means. Oh, I am not talking about the world and their mixed up thinking about love. I want to talk today about the love of Christians. One of the first things children learn in church is to love each other. As Christians we are taught to love one another, we sing about the love of Christ, we hear sermons about loving the world to Jesus! We do a good job teaching about love but do we live it out? I believe if we did a better job loving each other, every church would be overflowing. People today need and crave love and they are looking for it everywhere. If they could find it within the walls of the church they would be there.
     In fact, the opposite is true; if we do not love then we drive people away. I believe the greatest thing that has driven the non-Christian away from church is Christians fighting and destroying each other. It is so sad to hear the non-Christian speak of Christians and the church. Many times we try so hard to force our beliefs on others; they see no love in us. They only see self righteous judgment!One of the saddest stories I have heard is from a non-believer woman. She was telling me about a church in her town that had a reputation for fighting each other. It was complete drama and the fuel for the daily town gossip. She told me how people in town who weren’t members of this church would go to their business meetings just for the entertainment of watching the Christians brawl.
     I remember when my children were young teenagers. It distressed my heart so much when they would fight and argue. Bryce assured me that he would never be friends with his sister. All I wanted was for my children to love each other and for us to find great comfort in our family relationships. I am thankful that today they are very close. I thank God for it every day.
       cannot imagine God’s disappointment in His children when we can’t even love each other. God lays out the way we should treat each other. He teaches us how to handle conflict and He teaches us how to forgive. We should not tell anybody how God can change their lives if we refuse to let Him change our own. The world should see something different in God’s children. However, sadly they usually see no difference at all in us! We are to give the world a correct picture of who God is, to show His glory to the world. How can we do that when we can’t even get along inside our Christian circles?
     One of my greatest concerns is that a non-believer will be watching me and say, "If that is what it means to be a Christian, I don't want it." Can others see Christ in you by how you love others? Are there Christian relationships that you need to heal? Do you truly take the time and effort to love others or are you just friendly on the surface? If there was a hidden video taping you, would you be pleased with the viewing?    

For the whole Law is complied with in the one precept, you shall love [agape] your neighbor as you do yourself. But if you bite and devour one another (in partisan strife), be careful that you (and your whole fellowship) are not consumed by one another.

Galatians 5:14-15

What is Love?

     Let’s just get along and love each other! Wouldn’t that be wonderful? However, love can be very disappointing. People that are suppose to love me mess up. People I am to love, I end up disappointing. Love is hard! It seems the more I try, the more I don’t live up to expectations. When I love some people well, I end up ignoring others. Sometimes, I wish I was a big cloud that could just float over all those I care about and rain down my love on them. But there I go living in my fantasy world again! Scripture speaks in great lengths on love. The most famous scripture on love is 1 Corinthians. It is a beautiful scripture but every time I read it, I realize how my love falls short. Let’s look at the description of love according to 1 Corinthians 13:3-8:

So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up/ love is patient
Love cares more for others than for self / love is kind
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have / it does not envy
Love doesn’t strut / it is not proud
Doesn’t have a swelled head / it does not boast , is not proud
Doesn’t force itself on others / it is not rude
Isn’t always “me first” / It is not self seeking
Doesn’t fly off the handle / it is not easily angered
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others / it keeps no record of wrongs
Doesn’t revel when others grovel / Love does not delight in evil
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth / but rejoices with the truth
Puts up with anything / it always protects
Trusts God always / it always trust
Always looks for the best / always hopes
Never looks back but keeps going to the end / always perseveres
Love never dies / love never fails
The message / NIV

  Wow! It seems this is an impossible feat. How can I ever love in this manner? As long as I am the one loving, it is an impossible feat. However, God is love. Love is of God. If I have Jesus living inside of me and I let Him love others through me, it is not an impossible feat. Reread the list and this time do not read it as a list of your failures but as a list describing how God loves you. Since the very character of God is this kind of love, how can we ever doubt His love for us! He can’t help but love us,

Celebrate Love

     I am so excited that Valentines week is here! I know some people do not get into Valentines. Some people become sad, mad, and unhappy because they aren’t in love with anybody and they feel left out or lonely because they aren’t in a relationship. I have already seen entries on Facebook stating people’s dread of the holiday. I am very blessed to be ‘in love’ with a great man, but Valentine’s is so much more to me than a single focus on one person. It is a time to celebrate God’s love that He gives the world.     
     It can be more than flowers, candy, red hearts and romance. We can choose to celebrate all love that God gives us. This week we will look at how God wants us to love others. However, today let’s look at the origin of Valentine’s Day. The man behind this holiday of love is St. Valentine. He was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor called Claudias. Claudias persecuted the church and prohibited the marriage of young Christians. He felt unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died. Their society was very much like ours today. It was very permissive. Polygamy was popular. Saint Valentine was committed to a monogamous Christian marriage and he disobeyed the emperor’s orders by secretly performing weddings. Eventually, Valentine was caught, imprisoned and tortured. There are legends surrounding Valentine's actions while in prison. All of the legends say that Valentine fell in love with a powerful person’s daughter. The most popular legend says he fell in love with the blind daughter of a man named Asterius. Asterius was supposed to be his judge but Valentine prayed and healed his daughter and it had such an effect on Asterius that he became a Christian. In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation all because of his stand for Christian marriage. The story goes that the last words he wrote were in a note to Asterius' daughter. He inspired today's romantic signage, "from your Valentine."
      There are several lessons we can learn from this faithful saint. One is that we need to honor Christian marriage in our society. Today Christian marriage is losing its value in the eyes of the world. There are many reasons for this: we have a high divorce rate, adultery and premarital sex has increased to astonishing numbers. People think nothing of living together, plus we're even in a fight to keep marriage as a union between one man and one woman. To make it worse, we do not see any difference in behavior between the Christian and non-Christian. How sad it is that Christians are choosing to dishonor marriage when God created it to show the world a picture of Jesus' love for the Church. It is time for the Christian body to stand together and bring honor back to marriage. We need to stand against the world just like Saint Valentine did!
     How do you honor marriage? Do you stand up for a Godly marriage? Are you willing to fight for your marriage? There comes a time when you're going to have to suffer. It's not going to be easy to maintain your commitment and your vows in marriage. Don't be surprised if the 'gushing' love that you have for someone changes to something less "gushing". It is at those times we need to be prepared to stand in the power of the Holy Spirit and be faithful to our commitment. Are you ready to do that? If you aren’t married yet, are you willing to honor marriage in your premarital behavior? Can you stay committed to your future marriage? St. Valentine was willing to lay down his life for God’s gift of marriage. To what degree are you willing to stand?

God, not you, made marriage. His Spirit inhabits even the smallest details of marriage. And what does He want from marriage? Children of God, that’s what. So guard the spirit of marriage within you. Don’t cheat on your spouse.

Malachi 2:15

Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.

Hebrews 13:4

The Love of a Parent!

     What do you think of when you hear the word ‘LOVE’? It is a word that stirs countless thoughts and feelings. Sadly, not all of them are good. In its purest form it is one of the greatest characteristics of God. Only in Him can we see and experience true love. So, how has it gotten so distorted? The answer is easy: Satan. He has done what he does best; take what is good and twist it into something that is ugly, hurtful, and evil. He causes confusion within the world about the true meaning of love. The more confused we get, the more we search for it. The problem is that many practice the words of an old 70’s song and look for love in all the wrong places. A search on Google for ‘love’ shows how crazy the counterfeit meaning of love has become. It produced 730,000,000 hits. Amazing! Wonder how long it would take to get through all of those sites! You can see images of love, articles on love, videos of love, love quotes, love poems, love letters, love horoscopes, love tests, love lyrics, love definitions, love advice, love images, love match making, etc.
     I was blessed to meet a wonderful young man that I fell in love with and married. Marriage and learning to silence my selfish flesh has taught me how wonderful love can be. However, 26 years ago (almost to the exact minute I am writing this devotion) I began to be consumed with the purest love I have ever been able to give to another person. It happened the moment I became a mother. My son Bryce is over a quarter of a century old today. Though my love for my children has not been perfect, nothing else taught me more about God’s love for His children. If I could possess such an unconditional and sacrificial love, how much more could my perfect Heavenly Father love‽ No matter how much I love as a parent, He loves more. His love is perfect, it is unconditional, it is mighty, it is never changing, it is sacrificial, it is giving, and it is the core of His character. Everything I did as a mother was rooted in love, even when I disciplined or gave harsh instruction. Likewise, everything that happens to us as His children has been filtered through his fingers of love, even if it is discipline, trials and testing, or harsh instructions.
   God is Love. We cannot know true, pure, and unconditional love apart from Him. Let this week’s celebration of love, Valentine’s Day, be a time to reflect on the love the Heavenly Father has for you! Trust His love for you and rest in it. Let it comfort you, heal you, give you peace and joy.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us; that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 3:1

PS Happy Birthday Bryce!

More Questions than Answers

     Many people struggle with not knowing the answers to all of their questions pertaining to God and Christianity. I believe that is why cults are attractive to some. They take our questions and give answers, though the answers are not Biblical. In reality, they don’t care; they have their answers. For example, many struggle with how we go from living our whole life married to someone and then not being married in Heaven. What do we do with those feelings? Some struggle with loved ones not being followers of Jesus Christ and thus not going to Heaven. Mormons, give ridiculous answers to these areas of confusion. We need to come to the point that we don’t have to know all the answers. How big is God if I can understand Him totally? How does faith play a part if we have to have all of my questions answered before we will believe?

     There are a lot of things that I don’t have the answer to every day living and I have given up even searching for them. Just Saturday I came up with a whole list of questions that I will never have answers too! For example:

• Why is it that as soon as I paint my fingernails and I am waiting on them to dry, I have to go to the restroom really bad?
• Why are people extra challenging when my PMS is peaking?
• Why does my husband stay outside for two hours chopping wood with three men but as soon as I put a facial mask on, he brings them in for coffee?
• Why do I bother to mop the floor when the snow is melting? I should know that the wet muddy snow will be tracked in on the clean floor?
• Why do I love to watch movies I know will make me cry?
• Why does the scale refuse to move downward when I am working so hard?
• Where did I find the lost glasses that I lost two weeks ago and now all of a sudden, I realize I am wearing them? And where is the backup pair that I had been wearing but now can’t find?

     Life is full of unanswered questions! I don’t have all of answers in life and I sure don’t have all of them about God! I am fine with that! I trust His character when I don’t understand the answers. God is the creator of the universe. He knows all and sees all. How could I ever understand Him? He is far greater than my little mind can conceive: that is why is He is who He is and I am who I am!

“I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s decree. “For as the sky soars high above the earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.

Isaiah 55:8-9

Must Replace the Bad with the Good!

     When it comes to changing my eating habits, I became the 'Queen of Substitutes'! It is what made the transition from sweets and high fat foods bearable. It also allowed this new way of eating a more acceptable long term habit and not just a quick and easy four week diet. If you do not find healthy choices that you love, you will revert back to those things which aren’t so good for you. Ice cream was one of my favorite foods. Actually, I love it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or late night snack! If I had not found substitutes for my desire for the sweet, creamy, cold sensation, its temptation would have been the dagger to my weight loss. I have found that the ‘Guilt Free’ ice cream is great and very low in calories and fat. I freeze my yogurts and eat them as ice cream. Also, I make smoothies with frozen fruit, skim milk, and juice. It is very thick and I eat it with a spoon and call it sorbet. If we are out in a town with a ‘Cold Stone’, a cup of sinless ice cream with berries is my special treat and is less than 200 calories. I have found new food choices for every tempting edible favorite. I still eat all the foods I have always loved but they are prepared differently, with healthier ingredients, or substitutes. They have been 'skinnied up'.
     Beth Moore tells a story in one of her lessons that illustrates the need to replace the bad with the good. There was a woman who had a hideous green chair. It was worn and ugly. She hated it! Every time she walked by it, she just got more and more frustrated. One day, she had enough. She dragged the chair out to the trash for the trash man to pick up. For days she would walk by the spot where the green chair once was and notice the big empty space. She didn’t have the money at that point to buy a new chair. The space seemed so vast. It didn’t seem right. After a few days, she went out to the trash heap and dragged the chair back into the house to its place of honor. She hated the empty space more than she hated the chair.
     There are many things we hate in our life; our sin, our habits, our activities, etc. We want them done away with. Sometimes, we make a commitment to rid them out of our life. However, if we do not put good things in their place, we will soon drag them back into to their original position. Let’s say you decide to give up an activity you do every Friday night. You have determined it is not glorifying to God and causes you to sin. Your spirit hates it. You need to find a positive activity to do every Friday night in its place. If you don’t and you sit at home bored every Friday night, you will one day hate your boredom so much you will go back to doing the activity you didn't want anymore.
     Do you have a green chair in your life? Something you hate? Are you ready to drag it to the trash? What are you going to put in its place? If you end up hating the empty space more than the chair, the ugly green chair will be back in your life before you know it!

So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word,

making a salvation-garden of your life.

James 1:21

Are You Stuck?

      The snow blizzard of 2011 is amazing to me. I lived in Montana and have endured 40 below weather and I have seen nothing like this! In Montana, they are prepared for blizzards and they are experts at clearing the roads. The thing that is most amazing to me is the amount of cars stranded along highways, ramps, and streets. It is impossible to get around all the stranded cars and 18 wheelers. The 14 to 20 inches of snow within a 24 hour period with strong winds created a situation of impassable roads and white outs. There were snow plows, ambulances, police, and fire trucks stuck! I had never before seen any of those vehicles stuck in snow.

     The site of all the stuck vehicles struck me as a great picture of the situation people get into spiritually and emotionally in their lives. This week I was blessed to spend some time with a special friend. I had not seen her in many years. As we caught up with life, I found out that she had a blizzard hit her life. It rendered her hopeless and helpless: understandably so! At that time she abandoned life as she knew it. It is as if she stranded her life at the point the blizzard hit. In Tulsa, those that stranded their vehicles will have to go to the city and claim their vehicles after they are towed. She never claimed her life back:not even after six years. God gave her all the tools and truth to claim her life back from Satan, who had towed her life to His lot; but she didn’t. She lived everyday defeated, joyless, and mentally attacked. As sad as the event was in her life, it was sadder what she had allowed it to do to her! She gave up her house, her job, her friends, her day to day life, her church, and her community. It changed her relationship with her husband and family. She let the evil event in her life put her in a prison. The whole time she was behind bars, Jesus was standing there holding out the keys. All she had to do was choice to take the keys and walk out of her cell. She then could reclaim her life and let the event become a part of her past life and not the major part of her present life. I am very hopeful that after our talk she is claiming back her life!
     I have seen this happen to people quite often. There are times when people get stuck in life and they abandon the abundant life. What about you? Are the bad things that have happened to you during your life a part of your past or are they still ruling you present. Let Jesus help you claim back you life!

Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady; keep a firm grip on you. That’s right. Because I, your God, have a firm grip on you and I’m not letting go. I’m telling you. “Don’t panic. I’m right here to help you”

Isaiah 41:10 and 13 (The message)

What Does God Owe You?

     I was visiting a friend in Houston this week and I went to church with them Sunday morning. It was a lovely church. However, the style is way different than Fusion but one I had spent the majority of my life in. It was in a denomination I haven’t been too in 30 years but through all that, I enjoyed the service. They had heart behind their rituals. They had an associate pastor preach. She is the first woman pastor I have ever heard preach. She was also very young, like in her twenties though she looked like she was 16 years old. I really was prepared to endure the sermon. I love it when God surprises you through your own judgments! I loved her delivery and her message! Any guess on what the topic was? It was PRAYER and our pagan attitudes.

      She spoke how pagans would perform their duties to get something from their gods: protection, prosperity, and blessing. How often do we live life like the pagans and try to do our good work for God so we get something from him. We get to the point where we believe that we because we go to church, we faithfully pray, we love God, we serve God, we have memorized our Bible, etc., so He owes us by keeping the crisis’s of life away from us. I think we all have fallen into this trap. I remember catching myself with those thoughts when I had moved my family to Montana to serve God. In return, He should make sure things go smoothly for me to reward me for my sacrifice. In reality, missionaries die on the field after surrendering all for God, pastor’s families still endure struggles, mature Christians still endure heartbreak!
     When we serve God to get something from him the focus is on us: not on God! It is a form of manipulation! We can see it in our prayers! God please do this for me because I do this for you! God if you will do this for me then I will do this for you! That kind of deal making works in all of our relationships except for our relationship with God. It has to be about Him and Him only!

Jesus answered, “It is written ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only”

Luke 4:8

Notice it does not say, serve God and yourself!