Can God Trust You?

Then Israel believed his words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise. But thy hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them.

Psalm 106:12-13

Trust! What do you think of when I say the word Trust?
     Does it have to do with others trusting you? Does it have to do with you trusting others? What do you trust for? Trust is a much deeper word than we give it credit to be.
     I have been pondering lately about God trusting us! Now if you really think about it, God probably doesn’t trust us when He knows we won’t keep our word because He knows everything; which would include when He can trust us and when He can’t. However, I still want to be trustworthy for God. So many times we flippantly make commitments to God and then forget about them or change our mind. Many times we can see conflict between a person’s word and their actions. We see parents standing before the Lord committing their babies. Yet, when He takes them a direction they aren’t happy with, they get angry with God. We see spouses committing to stay together through good times and bad times. However, as soon as bad happens and it calls for endurance and forgiveness, they bail. We see men and women serving the Lord. Then one day, they stop serving because God disappointed them by not pulling them out of a bad situation. We see Christians committing to be a follower of God but in reality we only want to follow when He is leading in a direction we want to go.
     What does our word mean to God? As sad as it is, we are no better than the Israelites. They always promised to love and follow God but every time it got tough, they looked towards others things.
     Today, live being a person of your word to God. Whatever you have promised him, do it!

Work it All

     Last week I went to a personal trainer.  I have been wanting to for a long time.  We worked on proper form for three or four exercises.  I left thinking I had not worked out too hard.  I thought it was easy and realized that my challenge would be with proper form, more than the endurance of the exercise.
     I have changed my mind the last couple of day.  I can hardly walk!  I am in shock!  I must have been working muscles that I do not normally use or I have let get lazy.  Often, we tend to focus on the large muscles and not those little ones that can make a huge difference to our physical health.
     We do the same thing spiritually.  We focus on some main things to our walk with Christ and we feel pretty could about our health.  However, the Holy Spirit is like a spiritual trainer.  He is consistently working out some 'little things' in our life.  The hidden things of the heart.  The things others do not see.
      I am so thankful that God does not let me coast through life with feeling good about the 'big things' but keeps me humble with focusing on all the things. Do you need a spiritual workout?  Are you focusing on the external or the big things?  Let the Holy Spirit work you out and show you what internal things or 'little things' that can give you better spiritual health.

Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it's good or evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:14

He is Listenig!

Confession time!  Not that you haven't figured it out though.  I haven't been writing as many devotions lately.  I have had my fair share of Internet issues that has been a hindrance, but in reality the issue has been me.  Several things happened.: a  new job that has been very demanding, Brittne being home, traveling a lot, and many nightly meetings for one thing or another.  Lots of things to pulling my attention.  However, the real issue has been the fact that I wasn't hearing from God.  I struggled to find something to write and then found myself only writing because you are going to read it. I got away from the original goal: to write what God is doing in my life and for me to grow in my discipline with Him. I felt empty.
I did ask God why He was being so silent with me. I knew it wasn't normal because He talks to much through the day to day situations so why had He gone silent?  The answer is He didn't.  I stopped listening.  I was too focused on all the noises of my life and was expecting God to scream at me over the noise.
He does not work that way.  He doesn't move in our relationship; I do.  He will not scream at me over the noise. I need to silence my life and listen to Him.  Are you hearing God?  If not, is there too much noise going on in your life?  He is waiting to talk to you when you are ready to hear.

When you come looking for me, you'll find me.

Jeremiah 29:13 (The Message)

Lessons of Falling

     For three weeks, I have been sharing with you the falling stories of my life. I know we have all laughed together but I pray you have learned a few things to help you avoid spiritual falls. The Old Testament tells us to remember and to not forget. The New Testament tells us to not just hear spiritual lessons but to apply them. To help us remember what we have been learning, I am going to review how we can keep sin from tripping us up and causing us to take spiritual falls.

• We need to remember that sin is costly both to you and others.
• We reap what we sow; when we sin; we will fall.
• We can't ride the fence. If we have one foot in sin and one foot in following God; you will fall.
• We can't hold on to old sin. You will fall if you can’t let go.
• We can’t out run sin, if we sin; it will catch us.
• Remember that leaders can fall, pray for them.
• Don't get Lackadaisical. When things are going good, sin can creep in and cause us to fall.
• The best way to keep from falling is to not put yourself in Danger.
• Don't let panic trip you up by reacting with sinful thoughts and actions.
• If you have fallen, search to find what you have lost with the Lord.
• Falling is hard for the spirit but it will pass and God will restore you if you turn to Him.
• Do not rejoice when others fall or you can go down with them.
• Do not overlook the small things in life that can trip us up without notice.
• The best way to keep from falling is to know and live by God’s word.
• When it comes to walking with the Lord, do not try and take shortcuts; you will fall.
• If you get in the middle of a fight of others, you set yourself up to be the one that falls.
• You have to keep yourself from falling; it is no anybody else’s responsibility. No one can keep you from falling but you!
• Uncontrolled thinking will cause you to fall.
• Sin can reveal our true colors.
• It is important to watch for hurting people at church.
• God lifts up those that fall!

     If you are doing anything that is risking a fall, I pray that you will alleviate the risk from your life before you stumble and hurt yourself. Let’s all work together at becoming more sure footed!

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.

 Luke 6:49

Watch for the the Little Things

     When Dwayne and I were called to start Fusion, we visited other church’s that were similar to how we envisioned Fusion to be. One of the churches we visited was in Mississippi. After the service, we spent time speaking to the pastor at the front of the sanctuary and then he kindly prayed for us and the start of our new church. Their sanctuary was an old skating rink with the chairs and stage at one end. At the other end, they had set up tables and chairs to have a dinner after church to raise money for a mission trip. They had invited us to stay and eat and we accepted. After we finished praying with the pastor, we hurriedly walked to the other end to find a seat so they could begin serving. Because we were the last ones to be seated and they had been waiting on us, I knew all eyes were on us. We had to cross in front of all the tables to get to the only empty seats. As soon as we got dead center, in full view of all onlookers . . . I fell down and ended up on all fours! Thank God I didn’t do the back fall! Yes, I was humiliated but actually my husband comforted me. Now as of today, you have heard 18 falling stories. Do you remember any of them including my husband lovingly helping me up and holding on to me until I could find a place to sit (Dwayne: I have not been around ALL the falls!)? Trust me it hasn’t happened until this specific time. He was great! He bent down, asked me if I was okay, helped me up, and walked me to my seat! I know my leg hurt because I fell hard enough to melt the knee of my polyester pants. However, I think I was in such shock that he was being such a gentlemen, I didn’t even think about the pain or the embarrassment. Now, he says that his kindness had nothing to do with the 100+ onlookers but the only way he will ever convince me of that, is to be that kind from now on each time I fall. I have been waiting now 3 years to test him but so far; I have been fall free! Maybe I finally got it out of my system. Within a few minutes of sitting down a very nice woman approached me. She had a part of a candy wrapper in her hand. It was approximately an inch square. She started explaining to me that she had found this on the floor where I fell and she was sure it was the cause of my fall. How wonderful! I might not have ice and snow to blame anymore, but I now have a piece of paper to blame! I loved this lady!
     Often during our spiritual walk, we are very cautious of the big obstacles that can trip us up.  However, many times it is the little things that cause us to stumble. A little lie, a few minutes of gossip, a small amount of hidden anger, a few lustful thoughts, a couple of weeks away from church and Christian friends, a single outburst, and several disrespectful responses are some of the little things that can sneak up on us and cause us to slip and fall. Do not disregard the little things that can creep into your day. We must stay alert and guard our hearts from the little and big attacks from Satan.  What little things in your life are waiting to trip you up?

Don’t take Wicked Bypass; don’t so much as set foot on that road. Stay clear of it;
give it a wide berth. Make a detour and be on your way.
Proverbs 4:14-15