No Two Alike

By Hally Franz –

Every day I am reminded of how different my two children are from one another. We have both a biological child and an adopted child, but I think this is something most parents observe even among biological siblings.

My son is serious-minded and independent, a bit of a loner. He loves anything old from classic movies and music to antique farm equipment. My daughter, on the other hand, is very social and a pleaser. She is more playful than responsible, a lover of trends. I recognize the benefits and pitfalls of both their personality types.

I once heard someone say that “equal is not always fair.” I think the expression was used in the context of education, but it applies to parenting as well. Treating my children the same is not always the right thing to do. What might be right for one, may not serve the best interests of the other. That’s yet another challenge of parenting—each child requires something different in terms of discipline, opportunity and counsel along the way.

I have two children, and, at times, I feel inadequate when I see mothers of four, five and more children managing their large families with grace and proficiency. However, the Lord blessed us with two, and they have managed to keep their father and I plenty busy.

Our Heavenly Father has how many children? Billions? He knows what each and every one of us needs. He is aware of our uniqueness, because he made us. And, He knows what lessons I need to learn, what weaknesses and gifts I have, what experiences will help me grow in faith. He has a handle on it all.

What a comfort it is to know that our Lord is constantly looking out for the best interests of all His children, even while we parents strive and struggle to know how best to handle ours.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please guide me each day in the rearing of my children. Help me to provide them with the training and tools they need to build happy, Christian lives and families.

“The Father has loved us so much! This shows how much he loved us: We are called children of God. And we really are his children. But the people in the world don’t understand that we are God’s children, because they have not known him” (1 John 3:1 ERV).

They that Wait Upon the Lord

By Pat Hodges  –

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

Waiting upon the Lord doesn’t mean that we’re waiting for Him to do something, but it means, in the Hebrew, to twist or bind together. It carries the connotation to wait or tarry in His presence. This waiting or tarrying in Isaiah 40:31 speaks of binding together with Him in His presence. This is when the renewing of our strength takes place.

In this hectic and chaotic world we live in, it’s all too easy to lose the sense of His presence. We can often feel overwhelmed and carried away with the cares of this world and the cares that come with our personal lives, to the point that we find ourselves not only emotionally and physically drained, but spiritually drained as well, even to the point of being spiritually bankrupt.

The promise in Isaiah 40 is a sure promise to the weak, the down trodden, the exhausted, and the bankrupt. It promises that if we will take the time to get quiet, to press in, to rid ourselves of all distraction, and just simply wait in His presence, we fill find and experience the renewal that the Word speaks of.

What we often miss is the simplicity of communing with Him. It isn’t complicated. It isn’t a formula we have to learn, and it doesn’t come by going through a bunch of motions. Man makes things hard and complicated, God makes it easy. God would much rather that we commune with Him with few words that really mean something than with many that mean very little.

So in our prayer time and the time that we spend with Him, make it quality over quantity. That what He really desires, and that’s where we really find the renewal.

My Misspelled Birth Certificate

By Peter Lundell –

The nurse who recorded my birth couldn’t spell. So am I who I think I am?

There on my life-long-till-the-day-I-die-permanent birth certificate, my middle name is misspelled. And crossed out, with the right spelling squeezed above. What if no one caught that? I’d have gone around all my life with the wrong middle name—or endured a tedious court process to change it.

This person also misspelled my dad’s occupation as “Reverand.” It’s Reverend. And it isn’t even an occupation, it’s a title. My dad was a missionary. Humph.

More dangerous than clueless people who mistake identities are those who damage others and destroy their identities. And sometimes we ourselves might damage others without intending or realizing it.

Kids get hurt. And sometimes they get hurt by adults who act like monsters. The child’s identity gets scarred, or twisted, or crushed. And from the damage often grows a scarred, twisted, or crushed adult. Too often these people live dysfunctional lives and may in turn hurt others. I see these things all the time.

It’s as if someone messed up the person’s birth certificate. God’s intended identity for that person got replaced by a false, destructive one. The false, warped image needs to be changed. That’s what happens in inner healing—and in salvation, spiritual growth, freedom from bondage, and growing into the image of Christ.

To treat the life of faith as boring or legalistic is completely against who Jesus is and what he came for. He came to set us free from the consequences of sin—both our own and others’—and he frees us to become the person God originally intended.

How has God freed you to become a new person?

Or how do you still need to be set free?

“Lord, You are the healer of my body and my heart. I lay aside my fear and pride, open my heart, and say do what only You can do in me. Clean me and restore me into the image you intended….”

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18 NIV).

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3 NIV).

Not 89

By Peter Lundell –

“THIS IS NOT 89” read the sign. Huh? What kind of sign is that?

I was driving with my wife on Route 89, a backcountry highway in Utah. In a hick town called Panguitch, Route 89 turns east. Going straight, it becomes Route 143. We wanted to take 143, so we were fine. A mile out of town we came to this sign: “THIS IS NOT 89.” It’s the first highway sign I’ve ever seen that told me where I was not. I had to take a picture.

I could imagine some drivers blithely driving for miles through the wilderness before they realized they were on the wrong road—no doubt why the odd sign was put there in the first place.

It struck me that many people live their lives that way. Including me.

We go along in life, at school or work, professional or home life, and we don’t realize that the road curved. We don’t grasp that the world changed or we changed or that God has something new for us.

We can find ourselves lost in discouragement when we don’t pay attention to where our path has been taking us. Or maybe we just need to get off what we’re doing and change.

“This is not 89” signs are good for us. They may come as the slap of a sudden realization. They may be a gradual waking up to a new reality. They may hit as a major problem or loss.

They usually come because we were going the wrong way in the first place. Or maybe it’s just time to grow. So be thankful. They’re usually what it takes to motivate us enough to change.

Have you had—or do you have—“This is not 89” signs in your life?

“Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell” (Psalm 43:3 NIV).

“Lord, send me the signs I need to walk the road You are leading me on. Whatever those signs may be, I choose to welcome them. And to follow. . . .”

My “Bacon” Blunder

By Dawn Wilson –

Some things just make me go “Huh?”

I mean, I love bacon, but I wouldn’t buy the “Bacon-shaped Christmas ornaments” I saw online, or use a bacon-scented candle, or place a bacon-printed floor mat in front of my sink, or frost my cake with bacon-flavored frosting. I’m a wee bit tempted to create some “bacon roses” for a party, though. They just look so yummy!

My earliest recollection of the word “bacon”—other than the kind my mom fried up in a pan—was hearing Mom say it was Dad’s job to “bring home the bacon.” Years later I heard a commercial for Charles of the Ritz’s Enjoli perfume: “I can bring home the bacon! Fry it up in a pan! And never, never, never let you forget you’re a man. ‘Cause I’m a woman.”

The song was a parody of “I’m a Woman,” one of Peggy Lee’s signature tunes, and I embraced the philosophy. Her original lyrics explained she could scoop up lard “from a drippins can.” Then this awesome “W-O-M-A-N” would take that fat, throw it in the skillet, go out and do her shopping, and be back before it melted in the pan! Wow!

I thought, “Yes! I can do and be everything too. I’m tough. I’ll be a ‘bring home the bacon’ woman. I don’t need anyone. And when I get married, I’ll do my best to make a man feel he’s strong too (hopefully, stronger than me)!”

As I matured into womanhood in the Superwoman culture of the 60s, I felt driven to be all-powerful and self-sufficient. My goal was to read every self-help book I could put my hands on and achieve, achieve, achieve!

It took me years to understand that much of my self-confidence was founded in a proud heart and focused on performance. I was “wise” in my own eyes (Proverbs 3:7) and trusting in empty works (1 Corinthians 3:12-13).

God broke my heart in a revival meeting as I realized my self-confidence was getting in the way of “God-confidence.”

I was living independent of God, functioning like an atheist. I wasn’t seeking Him for advice and wisdom (Isaiah 30:1-3; James 1:5). I was trusting in my “strong flesh,” which was actually weak, limited, temporal and untrustworthy. I sadly realized flesh could only take me so far; ultimately it would fail me. And it was sinful. I was doing what came naturally instead of living supernaturally in Christ.

God wants so much more for us than “bringing home the bacon.” He has a great work for us to do for His kingdom, but He wants us to recognize that He is our Source. The more we seek Him and allow His Spirit to transform us (2 Corinthians 3:18), the more we will fulfill His purposes and find true satisfaction.

God is up to something beautiful, investing in our lives and shaping us for ministry. In His presence, we find peace, protection, provision, power—everything we need. HE is the one bringing home the bacon and so much more!

Maybe I need to buy and wear a bacon necklace I saw, to remind me of this great truth.

Next Page »