How’s Your Memory?

By Rosemary Flaaten –

My personality is such that I tend to live in the moment and dream of the future. I enjoy the friendships of today and am always on the lookout for my next best friend. I revel in that which I’m presently engrossed as well as the opportunities before me.

Unfortunately, my memory of the past is less robust. I have a general recollection of events or people, but details of the past all too often don’t stick to my memory board.

A weak memory muscle can be beneficial. I’m also likely to forget the details of stressful situations or strained relationships and the times I felt embarrassed or ashamed quickly fade. I probably won’t remember people I met who I didn’t like or who brushed me off. The past, rather than remaining detail specific, tends to get put into the blender of my mind and gets chopped up and mixed together.

Thankfully though, I’m also aware that this is a weakness and the negative effect it has on me. I have come to realize that the most acute danger is forgetting the blessings bestowed by God into my life. The Psalmist David directs us to “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:2 NIV). We are directed to remember every single blessing that God has given us.

For a memory–challenged person like me, this presents a real test that requires discipline. Choosing to start each prayer with thanksgiving helps me focus, even just for a brief second, on the faithfulness of God. Every day I choose to reflect on the multitude of ways God has evidenced His goodness to me. God’s unending grace and love is a blessing that must remain in the forefront of my gratitude. I keep a journal that chronicles the details of what I have learned from the Holy Spirit and Scripture. I daily exercise my ability to recall.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to remember Your faithfulness and out of these memories, may gratitude and praise flow freely.

“Yet this I call to mind and there I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21 NIV).

Holiness: A Listening Heart

By Carin LeRoy –

Ernest Hemingway once said, “I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” Although his life ended in tragedy, as a journalist he recognized the importance of a skill that many of us lack.

Sometimes when my family speaks to me, I realize I didn’t hear what they said because I wasn’t paying attention. How many of us go through seminars, meetings and church services and then can’t remember all that was said because we weren’t engaged mentally? Listening is a skill we all need to improve.

As we continue to learn what a holy life is, another aspect is having a heart that desires to know more and a willingness to listen to God’s instruction. In Luke 10, Mary is a great example of a listening heart. While Jesus was visiting at their home, she chose to sit and listen to Him speak. Martha, on the other hand, was too busy to stop her activity and spend time with Him. She missed out on what God was teaching because she was “too busy.”

How many times do we do the same? Even though Martha was doing good (fixing food for all the guests), God still said, “Mary has chosen what is better.” Mary placed importance on spending time with God. Mary listened because Jesus was speaking, and she knew to listen.

Having a listening heart means we have a desire to learn from and obey God. He wants the best for us but cannot give it if we are distracted or placing more importance on other things

Proverbs 1 says, “whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm.” Remember, God has our best interest in mind if we can develop a heart that listens.

PRAYER: Thank You that Your words are truth for my life. Give me a willing and focused heart to hear You when you speak.

“How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, who obey the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe his rules, and seek him with all their heart, who, moreover, do no wrong,
but follow in his footsteps. You demand that your precepts be carefully kept. If only I were predisposed to keep your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, if I were focused on all your commands” (Psalm 119: 1-6 NET).

Spray Away

By Karen O’Connor –

It had been a long flight from California to New York. I was tired but excited about the opportunity to speak at a large convention. Finally I arrived with time to spare before walking onstage to wow the crowd with the dynamic message I’d prepared and then rehearsed at least a dozen times. I checked into my hotel room, unpacked, rested my voice, and ordered hot tea with lemon and honey from room service. There wasn’t anything I hadn’t thought of––or so it seemed. I took time to press my business suit and apply my makeup carefully.

At the last moment I walked into the bathroom to refresh my lipstick and touch up my hair. A little spray would do the trick. I didn’t want even one hair to escape. I hadn’t paid the stylist thirty dollars for nothing.

I opened my purse, took out a small plastic bottle and turned this way and that in front of the mirror, taking charge of every stray hair. Spritz! Spritz! Even a stiff breeze couldn’t ruffle my tresses after that.

But something went terribly wrong. Instead of holding my hair in place, the entire ‘do’ collapsed into wet strands. I looked at the container in my hand, ready to pitch it out the sixteenth story window. So much for my professional coiffure––not yet twenty-four hours old. Indignant, I looked in the mirror, ready to return to the corner drug store and demand my money back. How could the clerk sell me this counterfeit when I expressly asked for a purse-sized bottle of hair spray?

Then I glanced at the label. Starry Night cologne. Oh for heaven’s sake. Where were my glasses when I needed them?

It was too late to start over. I had to walk out there and hold my own—regardless of how I appeared. Well, I smelled nice that day––but I didn’t look too swift!

I was pleased to see how well my audience paid attention. Every eye was on me––but probably not for the reason I hoped. I soon found out.

A woman came up to me after my presentation. It was clear she had a few words of encouragement for me after listening to my lament over the state of my hair. “You may not be the most attractive thing on the block,” she said, “but you’re a good speaker!”

Unified

By Donna McCrary –

“Get out your Hymnals and turn to page 52 and let’s sing Victory in Jesus,” the man at the front of the crowd announced. His comment was met with a quiet chuckle as everyone in their Sunday best gathered around the side of the river bank for their spring baptism. In unison the crowd’s voices harmonized the lyrics of the song. Without missing a word, I quietly joined the crowd. This song was a favorite in the church that I grew up in. The quaint church I was visiting is very similar to the one from my childhood, wooden pews, hymnals, family oriented, traditional.

As each believer waded into the chilly water proclaiming their new life in Christ I was moved to tears by their heart and passion. From young to old they were sharing their excitement and freedom in Christ. I looked at my husband and whispered, “Unified”. He responded with a smiled and a quiet, “Yes”.

Unified was the name of the band that just rocked the house at our current church. By rocked, I mean flashing lights, thumping drums, smoke machines and a crowd jumping as they raised their hands in praise. The music is not the only difference in the two methods of worship, but one word continued to invade my thoughts – unified.

God’s Word says in 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For we are all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” We are unified as the body of Christ – the church.

We are united by our faith in Jesus Christ birth, life and death on the cross. We are united by the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us. We are united by an eternal destination in heaven. There are so many things that unite us as a body of believers.

Would the world see the church in a different light if we started living as a unified body of Christ followers?

Just asking…

PRAYER: “Thank you God for Your Spirit. May a deep passion and desire begin in me to stand united in the truth of Your Word with other believers so others will know You. ”

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:20-23 NIV).

Surprise Gift

By Diane Mayfield –

I read Jarrod Spencer’s article “Surprise Me, God” and thought that was a great thing to ask God for each day, sort of like daily gifts. Being a girl who likes surprises, I asked Him, “What surprise do you have for me today, God?”

Then it happened. I rushed to get ready for my morning meeting. I stepped out of the shower, bent over to wrap a towel around my wet hair and felt a piercing shot in my hip. Then my legs tingled and almost went out from under me. I gasped with pain and managed to sit on my stool. It took my breath away and I was afraid to move. Was that my surprise?

I gingerly managed to stand. Back pain is not new too me but this sort of pain was. I thought if I could sit here, I might be able to finish my make-up. I wish I could say that I prayed at that moment, but I don’t recall if I did or not.

I was hosting my small group that night. Fortunately, all the preparations were made ahead of time. Don’t ask me why. Let’s just say it had to be God’s provision. I canceled all my appointments for the day, took massive doses of Advil and laid on an ice pack with my knees bent.

I tried get up for small group but the pain was too intense. I could only sit for a few minutes at a time and the pain drained me. So to the bed I went. I heard the hellos and laughter as the group arrived. I was missing out on the fun and I hated that.

Suddenly my bedroom door opened and in walked my sisters in Christ as I lay flat on my back with my knees on a pillow. I was not at my loveliest to say the least. Here’s the surprise gift. They all gathered around me, touching me wherever they could and prayed. They prayed for my healing, for the correct doctor, for my ability to rest in His care and for God’s will to be done. We joked that now I should get up and take my mat. That didn’t happen but my soul was totally uplifted, deeply touched and encouraged. My spiritual family surrounded me with loving kindness and care, refreshing my soul with their prayers on my behalf, touching and nurturing me.

I was the one who was to be the hostess that night, the giver and the nurturer. Instead I was the receiver. And quite honestly it’s not a place that I like to be. That was my surprise gift. In my humbled state, flat on my back, I felt so loved and cared for by Him through my sweet sisters in Christ.

Now, I didn’t really fully get all this until the next day when I recalled my prayer for a surprise. Then I was struck with a pinched nerve. You might wonder if that is the way God answers prayer. Thankfully I did not go that direction, although there have been times that I might have. No, His surprise was that instead of my doing, I was to receive His love from the spiritual family that He brought into my life. I had to be still first to receive His love from others. Many times wonderful gifts come from being still.

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NIV).

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