The Scrambler

By Kathi Woodall  –

Summertime brings outdoor fun as schoolbooks close and amusement parks open. We recently took our two oldest daughters to an amusement park with plenty of thrill rides and good times. They rode “The Scrambler,” a ride with four cars on each of three arms that spin and weave in and out of each other. Just as the earth rotates on its axis as it also revolves around the earth, each group of cars rotates as they also revolve around the central trunk of the ride. My husband and I decided to sit this ride out and waited for them by the exit.

Despite the speed and craziness of their spinning, each time their car spun around so it was facing us, we would make eye contact, smile and sometimes wave. For a brief moment, we would connect and be a stable, non-shifting point in their ride. We were a constant that didn’t change even though their car and every car around them spun wildly.

As I stood there watching and waiting for the next moment when they would face me and our eyes would connect, I thought about how God is a constant reference point for us as we spin around in a crazy world. God doesn’t revolve and rotate like the cars on the ride or the planets in the heavens. Indeed, He created the stars and the planets and set them moving on their paths. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17 NIV).

God’s constancy, absoluteness and stability are displayed in many ways. His unequivocal word will not shift or change. What He has spoken, He will do; what He has promised, He will fulfill (Numbers 23:19). Regardless of how we might be seeing things, God’s covenants will not change and will not be broken (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 7:20-22). The heavens and the earth will wear out and be changed like a piece of clothing but even then God will remain the same (Psalm 102:25-27).

Like the ride my daughters rode, what is spinning in your world right now? In the midst of the in’s and out’s of chaos and craziness, how can you connect with the One who does not change? God’s word, His covenants and His being will not change. Matthew 7 teaches that a wise man builds his life upon these things and finds stability regardless of what swirls around him.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Spiritual Drought

By Nina Medrano –

“O GOD, You are my God, earnestly will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is” (Psalm 63 AMP).

These past few months Texas is experiencing record drought. Churches across the State are holding gatherings to pray specifically for rain. Even secular News announcers and Meteorologists are asking folks to pray for rain. And, still no rain. On a spiritual level, I, too have been experiencing a spiritual drought-an emptiness that has left a deep crater within me, a longing for the Lord.

I searched for Him in the Scriptures and did not find him. I searched for him in prayer and did not find him. Like the Shulamite woman, I sought him in my private heart chamber, I sought him in church, meetings and prophetic camps, but I did not find him (Song of Solomon 3).

Everywhere I searched I caught only whiffs of His fragrance where I knew he had been but I had just missed him. Oh! My heart cried for Him even more.

An old memory rises from the depths of my soul: I had worked very late one night and was returning back to campus where I attended Bible College. I was travelling on Central Expressway in Dallas, Texa,s and in the privacy of my car I said to the Lord, out loud, “I love you so much that it hurts to be here!” I was not expecting to hear a response. But, immediately, I heard the Lord laugh and say, “Oh! How I delight in your love for me!” It was the first time that I had ever heard the Lord laugh. He has a beautiful laugh-hearty and full of melody. To hear him respond to my aching heart was so shockingly real that I burst in tears and cried all the way back to my dorm. This  happened over thirty years ago.

Last night I was restless–not even TV could fill my void. Unable to sleep, I went to my closet. I pulled out and dusted off my guitar from my college days. I began to re-tune the guitar strings– stretching the cords, back-n-forth, beyond the tension of their present setting until all cords sang harmoniously.

The guitar was not the only thing out of tune. My fingers lacked the rhythm it once knew with the strings. Then, I discovered that my voice was out of tune with my heart. Painstakingly, I pressed on over and over until my fingers began to hurt and stiffen from un-use .In my frustration, I cried, out-loud, to the Lord, “I AM LONGING!”

I sensed a gentle prodding to go on.go on and say what it is I am longing for.

“I long for you.”
“I long to hear your voice.”
“I long to see your hand of power.”
“I long to speak your Word and see it perform miracles”
“I long to swing my sword and slay your enemies as in the old days.”
“I long to see hearts radically changed by your Word.”

Suddenly, a song broke forth, like a dam, rushing waters from heaven
spilled into my soul, filling my spirit and making me whole.

Now, I wonder. Why hasn’t the Lord released the rains in Texas? What is he waiting on? Is he waiting on us to seek him wholeheartedly?

“‘If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,’ says the LORD” (Jeremiah 29:13-14 NLT).

Declaring My Dependence

By Kathi Macias –

June and July have always been my favorite months. I don’t know if it’s because they fall in the middle of the year or I just like the weather, but these two months tend to put a smile on my face.

June makes sense. After all, when you’re young, June means school is out and summer vacation begins, and it doesn’t get much better than that. But July kicks it up a notch for me, starting with all the celebrations associated with the Fourth.

Now I have to say that my husband grills the best steaks and tri-tips this side of anywhere, but my personal Fourth of July picnic-and-barbecue memories have made me a hamburger-and-hot-dog kind of girl. Even though we often went on Memorial Day outings at the end of May, the REAL summer activities didn’t seem to kick off until the Fourth. That’s when the company my dad worked for had these incredible picnics at the park that we kids looked forward to all year. There was dirt everywhere, so our mothers gave up yelling at us to stay out of it. Even better, there was a little stream that ran through the park—not deep enough that those same mothers forbade us to go near it, but just deep enough to be swarming with pollywogs. You wouldn’t believe how many of those disgusting little critters we’d scoop up into old canning jars filled with dirty water from the stream. Then we’d carry them home as trophies, swearing we’d take care of them and not let them die this year.

Another highlight of the annual outing was the food itself. All the moms brought their specialties, from potato salad to brownies to baked beans. Plus we all got to help make the ice cream, which was mouthwateringly good. But the meat was my favorite part. This is where I fell madly in love with barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers, because the only other alternative was venison steak. When I found out that venison was deer meat (which happened only weeks after my parents took us to the drive-in to see “Bambi”), I swore I’d never touch venison—ever! Thankfully the cooks offered the hot-dog-and-hamburger alternative, and those two items soon became my barbecue staples.

Of course, the best part of those Fourth of July celebrations came when the company picnic ended and the sun went down. That’s when we all piled into our cars and headed for a nearby spot where we could park in rows in the dirt, sit on the hoods of our vehicles or on blankets spread on the ground, and watch the FREE firework display. As we oohed and aahed that it was the best show ever, we were reminded—by many of the adults in attendance—that the glorious colors exploding in the sky were more than just spectacular entertainment. At least one parent always retold just enough of the story of America’s independence to keep the oohing and aahing in perspective.

“Freedom isn’t free,” someone would say. “Many paid a great price so you could sit here and enjoy all this. Some even gave their lives. You should always be thankful.”

I can’t help but wonder if that’s the reason I so love this time of year, and I’m sure it has a lot to do with it. But something else happened one July—the 5^th, as a matter of fact, clear back in 1974—that made this June/July season even more special for me.

It was the day I met Jesus, the day I declared not my independence, but my dependence, on the One who paid the greatest price imaginable so that I could be set free—not just here on earth, but forever with the Father.

And that puts it all in eternal perspective, doesn’t it?

Professional Liars

By Rosemary Flaaten –

Have you ever been in relationship with someone with whom you were never quite sure if what they said was a true reflection of reality?

The Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 4:2 (MSG) warns that “These [professional] liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth.”

What a sad statement that someone can lose their capacity for truth. Over an extended period of time, these professional liars convince not only others but themselves as well that a lie is the truth and that the truth is false. Their understanding and convictions are characterized by mayhem and they no longer know right from wrong.

Do you work or live with someone like this? When they speak, you wonder if they can be trusted. Their character has been shredded by dishonesty. Their word is no longer valuable.  You wonder when you may be sideswiped by their deception. A loss of integrity equates to the loss of a trusting relationship.

But, before we sit too long in the judgement seat, pointing our finger at others, let’s examine our own propensity for dishonesty. Perhaps its having an over-inflated sense of our abilities that has blocked our capacity to see our limitations. Perhaps it’s our tendency to turn a blind eye, ignoring our persistent sins such as overeating, gossip or pride. Maybe its a lingering memory that turns us away from God in shame rather than accepting the truth of His love and forgiveness.

Have we become a professional liar to ourselves?  These patterns may be so ingrained within us that we don’t even realize what has happened to us.  Its like a color-blind person, unable to realize that they are not seeing all the hues in the rainbow.  Identifying truth versus lies in our inner being is something we are unable to do.  We are desperate for God’s illuminating truth to show us the lies we harbor. Only then will we be able to reverse our tendency and become a person of honesty and integrity; a person known for truth.

PRAYER: Lord, show me where I have become blind to deception and may my heart and mind be opened to Your truth.

What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life” (Psalm 51: 6 MSG).

Is Freedom Free?

By Jarrod Spencer –

Most of us have seen a phrase that closely resembles this…Freedom Isn’t Free. Around that phrase you will typically find a picture of someone who has spared their life so we could be free – most often a patriotic picture of a soldier.

You could take that phrase and apply it to Jesus by thinking of Him as giving his life for our freedom. But, in order for something to be free, a price had to be paid at some point. When you think about freebies you receive at a fair, the sponsor had to pay for it in order to give it away. So, is freedom really free?

I am going to go in a different direction and say that freedom is free. Specifically, freedom in Christ. It is free to you to take advantage of. It is free to you to decide whether or not you are a going to commit. Like a piece of money that you see on the ground, you decide whether or not you are going to pick it up or leave it there.

When we lived in Illinois, our church had a once-a-week preschool. When I moved there we charged $10.00 per child for the whole year. Ridiculously cheap!  Sometimes, things are so cheap that we cannot find the value in it.

When it came to our preschool, it was probably so cheap that some people that were not familiar with it may not have noticed the value. If it would have cost $10.00 per month, at least, maybe it would have felt like there was more value in it. So, not everyone took advantage of this opportunity.

But, what about that money on the ground referred to above? If you decide not to pick it up, someone else will do it. Someone else is going to take advantage of gaining a bit of wealth. When it comes to a freedom that is found in Christ, if you don’t take advantage of it, it is your loss.

Unlike our American freedom, which once we are born, we possess it. However, Christian freedom is a choice; to take advantage of that freedom, someone has to act, to accept it.

Is freedom free?  In this case, YES!  The real question is, have you or will you take advantage of acquiring freedom in Christ?

PRAYER: Victorious Father, I am thankful for the freedom that we have in America, along with the freedom that I have in Christ. May I use these freedoms to Your glory as I go about my life sharing You with others.

BIBLE VERSE: Galatians 5:1 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. (MSG)

 

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