Permanent or Temporary

"Christians settle for sedatives to numb the pain, God wants us to pursue treatment to cure the condition." Sun Stand Still (Steven Furtick) I remember when Jared (my son) was about 3 months old, he had an ear infection that would not get cleared up with antibiotics; about mid-night on this particular night he was in so much pain we called his pediatrician. 30 years ago the doctor would say "I'll meet you at my office". After a brief examination the doctor lanced Jared's ear drum. He screamed like crazy; I cried too. It was horrible seeing how badly he hurt. The doctor did something that hurt at the moment but immediately the fluid that had been trapped behind his ear drum began to leak out. He and I were shaken so bad Lydia had to drive home. I could not believe I let the doctor hurt him BUT I KNEW if that fluid did not come out, Jared would not get over his infection. A day or so later his ear was fine and never had another ear problem.

There are times God does a work in us that feels horrible. We question His love and cry about our pain but like the doctor working on Jared, God knows getting the problem fixed requires drastic measures. The doctor could have deadened Jared's ear drum and he may have had temporary relief but when the medicine wore off the intense pain would return. Like the doctor that night, God is doing a work in many of our lives, not because of cruelty but to get us well. Let some time go by without accusing the Lord, you will see that He is getting us well and ready to be used for His glory and trusted with His power to share with the world.

Don't settle for hiding behind your temporary relief when God is working to get you permanently healed, after all, "His ways are better than our ways"!

Sun Stopping Prayer

How is your prayer life? Are your prayer times the richest part of your day or is it a chore you avoid until you have no more excuses and then you can't wait until they are over? In Joshua's life, he faced disappointment, setback, delays and instructions from the Lord that no one had ever heard of. It's easy to go to Joshua chapter 10 and read about his powerful prayer and we all want to be able to pray Sun Stop Moving Prayer but God only trusts that kind of power to those who have proven that honoring the Lord and obeying Him are not debatable choices but opportunities to show our trust in God regardless of His instruction.

Joshua's prayer was answered after marching all night long and began fighting and continued fighting for 36 hours. Quit expecting to walk out of troubles forever. Make sure you are keeping the Lord first in your life. Just because He has been there in the past does not mean He will be there today, you must continually put Him there. Kind of like wearing a retainer for those who have had braces on their teeth; if you don't constantly wear a retainer your teeth revert back to their old positions. Our prayer lives can be the richest parts of our lives but they can also be a challenge to "keep up" when things don't seem to be going like we want them to. The same God who stopped the sun for 24 hours is listening for your requests and looking to see if your obedience matches your desire for things to change.

I love the quote "He who God uses greatly will be tested powerfully"! Don't let tests cause you to doubt God's goodness of favor on you, in fact if you are in a serious battle you re probably right where He wants you to be -- let His light shine through and make sure He gets the praise!

Don't Quit

Everyone faces touch situations somewhere at some time. No avoiding that fact but we can prepare for these tough events and decide before they get here that we are going to get through them, they will not stop us. They may delay our arrival but they will not keep us from reaching the God designed destination. The question is how do we prepare.

First, know who will get you through the tough times. If you rely on anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ and the guidance of His Holy Spirit you will delay your arrival even longer.

Next keep God's Word exalted above all circumstances. What God says will never change, circumstances do. Get advice from people who have walked the path before you. Usually advice requires us changing something which brings resistance but don't be afraid of change. Everybody and everything changes. We can't stop it and complaining (even if it's just rehearsing it in our minds) causes frustration to grow; when that happens it brings more difficultly in relationships that can help you get through the struggle. The enemy we face and who constantly works to kill, steal and destroy us is relentless so prepare for long term to battle him with weapons that are not earthly but divinely powerful for tearing him down.

One more thing although I could keep going with ideas is don't give up. We do not know all that God knows. We see through a dark glass, He sees things exactly like they are -- trust Him. I love the saying, "When you cannot see God's hand, you can trust His heart". He is for you and He will never leave or abandon you, so hold on, remember change is on it's way!!!

God's DNA

We all have God given talents. Everyone has them, Christians and non-Christians. God made us unique and gets joy when we use our gifts for His glory. Many struggle with accepting their gifts because they like the gift someone else has and try to be like them. People spend their whole lives "acting" like someone they were never created to be. One of parents highest responsibilities is to seek God about their children's gifts; once they discover what they are the parent should constantly point the children towards their gifts; NOT the gifts the parents want them to have but the gifts God has given them. Because we all have God given gifts we know the devil will try to pervert, steal and destroy these gifts. It requires constant effort to use these gifts and if God is going to get the glory from our use of gifts, it must not be our talent or skill alone that empowers us. A tendency that can creep in is to become prideful about gifts especially the ones that are used in public platforms. Parents need to stay watchful as their children get comfortable with what God has given them by instructing them early on in their gift discovery and function. Proverbs 22:6 says "Train up a child in the way he should go, when he gets older he will not depart from it." Training is likened to training a horse to be used in handling cattle. It implies practice, patience, correction, encouragement and perseverance.

Ask someone if they can identify your gifts, then ask them if they think you are using them to their highest potential. If they say you are not using them to that potential ask them to help you increase that use until it is obvious that what God invested in you is not being wasted. We are all created with gifts from God, use them to glorify Him, after all He gave them to you!

Seriously!

There is no way it has been almost 3 weeks since I wrote something for this. If you read my last post I said "I will check with you in a day or so". Turns out I wasn't even close. The best I can say is "I have thought about it". Reminds me of the 3 frogs who decided to jump off a lily pad; how many were still on it, all of them because deciding to do something and doing it is not the same. Amazing how we give ourselves slack (we don't allow others to get away with near what we allow our self to) when we are not following through on a particular thing we need consistency in. That was my apology in case you do not recognize it. I have been living on Romans 8:28 for the last month or so. It says "That's why we can be sure that every detail of our lives works for good to those who love God and are used in His purposes." I believe God is doing things we don't see or understand (He has been for all time but I'm recognizing it more now) that will be made evident in the future (maybe even near future). Hard times make it difficult to see "what God is doing". During hard times we focus on our circumstances, tend to go over and over the "trouble" and stop looking up for God. If we are not looking for God's provision we are likely going to miss it and never even know it was there. Let me challenge you to keep looking for the Lord in the middle of your "hard times". Times can change in less than one day. You can go from "prison to the palace (Joseph, Genesis 38-50) in one day. If you keep looking for the Lord, you will find HIm. I will look for you in a few days!

Picking Back Up

I don't know what has happened for the last few weeks. I have not had any desire, time, umpth, motivation or discipline to write. Problem is writing keeps me connected in a way that is helpful for me. If you have had any lapses in any area of discipline lately, I urge you to join me and get started again. It probably won't happen because you feel some big inspiration but if you will take the first step, the second one will be easier. You may not do your best ever but you can create some momentum and we know once we have that working for us we can get our jobs done way easier. Do a quick survey of the important things in your life. Are you reading your Bible daily? Are you spending quiet time with the Lord listening for His guidance instead of dumping your "to do" list on Him? Are you getting enough rest? Are you spending quality time with your family? The list goes on but you get the idea. If you fall short in any of these areas or ones that are important to you, give yourself a deadline to get them going again. A reasonable time like hours or days not weeks or months. If you pass your deadline without making any progress, ask someone to be an accountability partner to check on you for awhile until your new beginnings become habits that you accomplish regularly. For now, you are my partner, you will know shortly if I am back on track with keeping up with my blog. Get started today, I'll talk to you again in a day or so!

Enjoy Today's Victories!

My "to do" list is 2 slots shorter for the moment. It feels good to get some things marked off before a dozen try to fill the slots. For perspective, the things still on my list scream "what about me" pushing to get their turn and have the potential to steal the feeling of accomplishment for getting some big things checked off. I believe we experience the same kinds of feelings when we get some really big answers to prayer. We enjoy the answers for a short time only to begin focusing on "what's let to pray about". Philippians 4:8 says we are to control what we think about. It says "think on things that are good, honest, right, pure, lovely and a good report". Colossians 3 says to "think on things above not only on things below". II Corinthians 10 says to "take your thoughts captive" meaning don't just see the glass half empty, make sure you see the glass half full too. There is a natural "tendency" to see things that need to be done instead of the things that have already been done for many people. For those people they spend more time stressing about the "to do list" than rejoicing over their "just got done list". A wise saying is "make sure to enjoy every single victory". A victory may mean getting something checked off the to do list, losing a few pounds on your diet, learning a new Bible verse, being more attentive to your spouse and kids, going all day without losing your temper, etc. I just remind us all to make sure to enjoy the pleasant moments; don't loose the value of things accomolished because of things waiting to have their turn.