My Mom’s a Brunette, I Promise

By Hally Franz –

I can’t remember which image I caught first. After numerous psychology and education class discussions of the classic drawing, I’ve forgotten whether my eyes and brain first registered the lovely, young Victorian lady or the wrinkled, hooded, old lady. You know the one I’m talking about. The lesson pertains to perception. Some people see the young lady, others the old one.

If asked what color my mom’s hair is, I might say she’s brunette. In fact, I have. In my mind, that’s the truth and, without thinking, that’s how I have described her. I was raised by a dark-haired mother; she’s the one that sent me off to college. Over the years, though, she has become increasingly blond. She’s practically platinum, but my mind has been slow to recognize the change.

We all know how critical first impressions are. We are particularly aware of them when we meet a potential employer. Those first impressions are often the moments and pictures remembered by those we encounter. They are brief spans of time that become perceptions, opinions and beliefs.

At first glance the lesson seems obvious. Let’s make sure we show everyone we meet the Christ-like person we hope they see in us. When we’re granted only seconds or minutes, let’s put our best face forward, lest we never get another chance.

That’s the lesson I see first here. It’s the one that registered with me initially. After another longer look I see an extra bit of insight. It occurs to me that I have some impressions-turned-beliefs fixed in my head that may require second looks and updates. A few go back 40 years to elementary school! I don’t know about you, but I hope others see me differently than they may have 40, 30 and even 20 years ago. I hope they’ve given me a longer look over the years.

After repeated college lectures and visual examinations of this exercise, I can see both the old and young lady. Which one I saw first is of no importance now. I think I’ll thumb through my brain’s personnel files, do some reviews and update some old perceptions I have about people. That’s a goal with merit, I think.

While, most of us have learned to interact in a Christian way, we may still have head and heart issues to focus on. You see, I am a brunette—even when my hair leaves my colorist seeing red.

PRAYER: Gracious Father, open my eyes to see people as they truly are without making judgments based on glances and fleeting moments, just as You look deeper at all Your children.

“But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus” (Acts 9:27 NIV).

Today’s devotion is by Hally Franz. Hally is a former high school guidance counselor, turned homemaker. Hally sees each day as a new exercise, where routines change and weights vary. Her goal is to maintain all-around fitness for service, while training her children to be competitive, compassionate and Christ-like in the world in which we live.

The Trumpet of the Lord is at Pizza Hut?

By Aubrey Spencer –

My family eats at the Pizza Hut in our small town at least once a week. We always sit in a booth. We know all the wait-staff. We even have the menu memorized. We’re regulars. Recently our local restaurant decided to add a paper towel roll to each table in order to cut down on the excessive use of napkins. Not a bad idea. Except these “napkin savers” sit on scrolly, black metal holders. Holders that completely fascinate my three-year-old son and his vivid imagination. He can’t keep his hands off of them. Before we have been there even five minutes, he has removed the paper towel roll and has transformed the holder into anything from a microphone to a gun to his favorite thing—a trumpet.

Not long ago, we were eating pizza and visiting with a friend who’d stopped by our booth when Oliver grabbed his “trumpet,” stood up in the booth and loudly started to sing “when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more, when the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.” I’ve got to be honest, I was half impressed and half worried that he was making a scene. It was funny. It was cute. It was loud. It got me thinking. Am I that bold? I mean, do I stand up—in front of others no less—and profess my faith? Or do I, at times, worry too much what others think of me and miss opportunities to be an instrument for Him? Honestly, I wish I was a little more like my three-year-old. He wasn’t concerned with what anyone thought. He was just excited to blow his trumpet for God. He taught me a lesson that day. And now every time we eat at our local Pizza Hut and I see one of those paper towel holders, I am reminded of my sweet little boy’s boldness and I’m inspired to grab my trumpet as well.

PRAYER: Father, please help me to be bolder in my faith. I oftentimes find myself timid and worried about what others think, and I know I miss opportunities to be used by You. Help me to stand strong and to be effective in Your kingdom.

“So don’t throw away your bold faith. It will bring you rich rewards. You need to be faithful. Then you will do what God wants. You will receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:35,36 NIRV).

Today’s devotional is by Aubrey Spencer. Aubrey is a minister’s wife and a stay-at-home mom to two little miracles, Oliver and Ava. She has a passion for writing and entertaining but realizes her greatest ministry at the moment is to raise her children to be people after God’s own heart. She loves to see how God shows up in everyday situations. Read more of her writings at http://ministrymama.blogspot.com.

New Wine

By Nina Medrano –

Life has a way of leading us to certain crossroads that turn out to be a significant turning point.

Our lives become transformed by that decision. And in our heart of hearts we lay a milestone to commemorate the day we resolve to follow a certain path.

For me, that milestone is tithing.

Like many, when I began my life with the Lord, I did not tithe. As I grew in the knowledge of God’s Word, I learned that the tithe belongs to God. I also learned that when I did not tithe I was robbing God. In the early years, I struggled to maintain a lifestyle of tithing.

However, my desire to please the Lord began to outweigh my fear of not having enough.

I can testify of the Lord’s faithfulness to supply all of my financial needs. I cannot tell you how He does it; but only that He does. Many times I have compared my expenses with my income and found myself short. Yet, by God’s faithfulness, all of my needs are met. Praise is to God.

Proverbs 3:9-10 reads, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.”

As I meditate upon these verses I realize that this is true for me and my house. Our “barn” which represents our storage of goods is full! Our fuel tanks are full, our refrigerator is full, our freezers are full, and our wallets have extra.

Then, a new revelation dawned in my spirit when I read verse 10, “And your vats will overflow with new wine.”

Wine refers to the Holy Spirit and of anointing.  New wine speaks of new experiences and encounters with the Holy Spirit. Vats are containers of wine. We are the vessels that contain the Holy Spirit of God. We are “the temple of the Holy Spirit” (I Cor. 6:19 NIV). We are carriers of spiritual treasures (II Cor. 4:6 NIV).

So, if I honor the Lord with my wealth AND with the best part of everything I produce (including my writing), then God will fill my storage places AND I will overflow with new experiences and encounters with the Holy Spirit of God!

Don’t you just want to increase your tithe just to get more new wine? God knows that I need more of his anointing to flow through my life. As a mentor, I depend on the Holy Spirit to reveal the places that need healing. As a writer, I depend on the Holy Spirit to unfold the mysteries of God’s Word to share with the body of Christ.

Could you use more anointing?

As you read this spirit-inspired article I pray that the “eyes of your understanding be enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18 NIV).

Nina Medrano writes for her church blog at http://www.cotrwomensministry.blogspot.com/

Rich

By Heather Arbuckle –

We hear a lot of talk about wealth these days. Who has it? Who wants it? Who squanders it? It doesn’t take more than a few moments of current events before someone is screaming about it. And while the world may not know it, I feel I must proclaim…

I’m Rich.

Not according to my bank account.
Not because of my social standing.
Not due to the neighborhood in which I dwell.
Not because of my car, my clothes, or anything I now possess.
In all the areas of wealth measured in society, my standing is quite ordinary.

But I will say it again…I am rich.

I am rich in love…
I have been married to my college sweetheart for over 18 years, and I still adore him. While time has changed us both, I still get butterflies when my honey walks through the door each night.

I am rich in laughter…
Three rambunctious and comical children fill the rooms of my home with games, giggling, jokes, and fun. There is never a day that we don’t laugh together. NEVER.

I am rich in friendship…
My circle is small and strong. A handful of sensational, Godly women stand as my hedge when the world around me gets crazy. They accept me for who I am today, and encourage me to grow into who God created me to be. With love and support, these women fill my life with a sense of belonging.

I am rich in family…
Though I reside hundred of miles away from nearly all of my extended family, I have found they are never more than a phone call or text message away. Whether in celebration and triumph or grief and fear, my family is never far from my heart.

And most of all, I am rich in faith…
I have a relationship with my Heavenly Father that I treasure above all others in my life. He is my Hiding Place, my Redeemer, My Savior, my Comforter, my Rock, and my Friend. Over the years, I have learned to walk with Him through all of life’s adventures. He quiets my fears, hears my prayers, speaks into my circumstances, and brings light into my darkness.

We are warned in Ecclesiastes, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). In short, wealth will never be enough to satisfy our need for riches. To the contrary, true riches are not measured in dollar signs, real estate deals, or social justice. Indeed, real treasure is stored in the deepest places of the heart.

I look around my simple life which consists of fiscal responsibility and a very tight budget and my heart swells with gratitude for all that God has lavished on me in this life. Once more,  I am reminded of this simple truth that “a faithful person will be richly blessed” (Proverbs 28:20).

I am rich.

Anticipated Event

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Throngs of people leap to their feet, jumping and dancing. They open their mouths and an unbroken roar flows forth. Arms raise skyward, and faces of every pigmentation reflect the excitement. For this occasion, folks have gathered from all over the world. As the opening of the anticipated event draws closer, the shouting magnifies. It rolls like thunder—riotous, pandemonic—like the roar of rushing waters.

Finally a loud command splits the air, and something like a trumpet signals the start. An abrupt, expectant silence quivers in the atmosphere. The Super Bowl is about to begin!

But hold on. This is no stadium. There is no face paint, no hot dogs or soda, and no football team waits to run on the field to the screams of fans.

The crowds drop to their knees; some fall on their faces. The Awaited One appears. This is the King of all kings, the Worthy One. The Lamb who was slain, but who lives forever.

Angels numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand encircle His throne. Countless multitudes wear white robes and hold palm branches in their hands.

“Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him…” (Revelation 1:7, NIV). He is the Alpha and the Omega, who was and who is and who now comes!

I can work up a lather over my favorite team on their biggest day of the year. If I had been at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, you might’ve seen me forget myself enough to wear a cheese hat, jump up and down and shout until my voice quit. If I can get that excited over eleven mortals chasing an oblong ball up and down a playing field, how will I respond when my Lord, the Creator of all, appears for the second time to bring salvation to all who wait for Him?

QUOTE: Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus, or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all? —Bart Millard

“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ and the elders fell down and worshipped” (Revelation 5:13-14 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

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