Rabbit on the Runway

By Peter Lundell –

A rabbit is on the runway. Now it’s on the service area around the jet.

What? How did a rabbit get there?

Denver International Airport is gargantuan. I’m looking out the terminal window at a rabbit hopping across the tarmac, between rows of parked planes. It is light brown and plump; hopping here, hopping there.

A jet lumbers by, and the rabbit hops some more. It had to have crossed several runways and fields and passed a dozen planes to get to this terminal. How utterly strange and out of place is a rabbit on a runway.

By the time I emerge from my stupor enough to extract my camera, the little bugger hops to the other side of the plane and continues out of sight.

Have you ever felt far from home or far from your comfort zone? Maybe you’ve felt like a misfit. Or just lost or out of place.

Or have you ever been so curious you did something crazy, like the rabbit? Have you ever defied your fears, gone beyond your self-imposed limits, or limits others imposed?

Doing so can seem foolish. It can be scary. And people or systems will almost always push you back into your expected place. If that’s God’s intention for your life, then stay there. But if God made you to be someone else, someone who pursues dreams and dares to make them happen––then learn from a rabbit hopping among commercial jet aircraft. That rabbit has gone way beyond its meadow of grass, across fields of concrete, to hop among silver behemoths. What guts.

Go, rabbit, go!

Prayer: “God, O God. I choose to learn from a rabbit. Lead me beyond my comfort zones and boundaries of fear to venture out in ways that will scare me but will surely grow me.”

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10 NIV).

Grace to Embrace

By Cindy Martin –

Gifts have been opened, food has been consumed, diets have been started, mistletoe has dried up, and New Year’s resolutions have been promised and some already broken. Kinda’ sounds like a Charlie Brown Christmas review, doesn’t it?

The start of a new year can bring both anticipation and dread. Some folks can hardly wait to see what amazing adventures are waiting to be had in the coming months while others live in a paralyzing web of “what ifs”.

I suspect most of us live somewhere in between fear and exhilaration; simply asking God to give us grace to embrace whatever He has for us in 2014. What if that grace to embrace actually included embracing someone new in your life?

We’ve often heard that the holidays are a very lonely time and indeed they can be without close connections with family or friends to share the season with. But I would suggest that without meaningful connections in our lives, life can be extremely lonely all year long. Jesus teaches and models throughout the pages of Scripture that we were designed to live in community. He celebrated, wept, worked, rested and pursued His life’s mission in the context of other people. While He did spend precious time alone with His Father, the bulk of His time was spent “doing life” with people; simply showing them how to live life the way God designed.

In John 15:15 Jesus tells us, “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (NIV).

I would suggest that the fulfillment that so many of us are seeking in our lives can be experienced as we follow the model Christ set out for us. Is there someone in your circle of influence or acquaintance that God is calling you to come alongside and include in both the memorable and mundane moments of your life?

Perhaps there’s someone for whom you could share the wisdom of experience you’ve had in life and in God’s Word that would propel them forward in their own faith journey. Such relationships may not always be convenient and might even get messy at times but God promises that His “grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV).

To know that you have been used by Almighty God to facilitate transformation in someone else’s life is not only an amazing privilege, it is a sure path to a life of contentment, gratitude and joy. Why settle for anything less?

Prayer: “Lord Jesus, show me who by Your power and grace, You are asking me to come alongside and embrace.”

Thank God for ‘Re-do’s

By Dawn Wilson –

A story about a sneaky painter reminds me of the blessings of a second chance. As the story goes, the painter thinned down his paint for years while charging his clients full price. One day a local pastor hired the man to paint his church.

“All right!” the painter thought. “I can make some big bucks – it’s going to take a lot of paint!” True to his character, the schemer thinned down the paint and started painting.

Suddenly, a storm swept through the town and a bolt of lightning hit the painter, knocking him from the ladder. As storm clouds swirled and lightning struck near him again and again, the painter feared for his life. “Help me, God,” he yelled. “I know I’ve done wrong. What can I do to get a second chance?”

And a voice boomed from heaven: “Re-paint, re-paint … and thin no more!”

Ah yes, the blessing of repentance. When we confess our sins, God is merciful, faithful to forgive us (1 John 1:9). “How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” (Psalm 32:1 HCSB).

By God’s grace our sins were cast behind His back and He refuses to remember them anymore (Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:12). In the words of an old hymn, “My sins were like a heavy stone God cast and buried in the sea. As east so far from west is thrown, My sins have been removed from me!”

I’ve always appreciated the freshness of a new day. As Christian author and pastor Todd Stocker wrote in Refined: Turning Pain into Purpose, “A sunrise is God’s way of saying, ‘Let’s start again.’”

In a much broader way, we experience this freshness in the sunrise of a new year. Some will make a list of New Year’s resolutions. Others, knowing the dismal results of resolutions in years gone by, will skip the list and simply seek God for a new vision or direction. Perhaps a motivating scripture will keep many on track. Two friends taught me the value of asking the Lord for a “word” to embrace. Last year my word was God-confidence. The word inspired me to create a new ministry, trusting God for strength and wisdom.

This side of heaven, our Maker understands our weaknesses and He is the God of the second chance. And the third. And many more.

Repentance. Confession. Forgiveness. A fresh start. Those fresh beginnings allow for daily choices to draw closer to God, and to obey Him fully and bring Him glory as we become more like Jesus. It’s all possible because of God’s grace.

Have you thanked God for His grace and the countless ‘re-do’s in your own life?

A Heart of Praise

By Rachel Indihar –

Many of us have heard extraordinary stories of Christians. These are not the stories about Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who have two children (a boy and a girl), work successful 9-to-5 jobs, and attend church on Sunday mornings. Those stories are not inspiring because they remind us of our own lives!

The stories that truly encourage us are the real-life stories about Christians who risk their lives for their beliefs, live in the power of the Holy Spirit, and share the Gospel with hundreds (if not thousands) of people.

The problem is that many of us have believed that these stories are rare. They happen every 50 to 100 years to one person in one particular country. When we have this perception, we lose our passion for Christ and conform to the “Mr. and Mrs. Smiths” that the secular world requires us to be. How do we gain the passion and enthusiasm for Jesus Christ that people like Corrie Ten Boom, Billy Graham, and Hudson Taylor have possessed?

The secret may surprise you: It all has to do with praise. Not the typical “praise and worship” pop songs we hear on the radio that we like to sing along to, but praise as in I’m-consumed-with-the-Holy-Spirit, I-will-die-for-Christ, Christ-is-my-everything type of praise!

When we are filled with the spirit of praise, a miraculous thing happens: we stop focusing on ourselves! I’m convinced that the biggest hindrance in our Christian growth is an obsessive focus on ourselves. OUR needs, OUR time, OUR talents and interests. We want to praise God WHILE getting what we want in this life. Our selfish interests and ambitions have to die in order to fully gain Christ. When we stop focusing on ourselves, OUR desires become GOD’S desires!

The next time you are consumed by negative emotions, such as anger, envy, depression, or anxiety, instead of trying to “talk yourself out of” that emotion, try switching your thoughts entirely to God and praise Him for all of His blessings in your life. If you are struggling to create a list of blessings, you are forgetting that the greatest blessing is Jesus Christ Himself, who is all we need in this life and in the life to come.

“I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strength you…so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me…I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things” (Isaiah 45:5-7 NIV).

Bunny Trails Worth Following

By Hally Franz –

The garnet and the carnation are the gemstone and flower, respectively, which are typically associated with the month of January. Born in the ‘60’s, I remember, too, that most folks born in January fall under the zodiac sign of Capricorn, but about one third are born under Aquarius. I did my sixth-grade term paper on the subject.

I wondered this morning how long the poinsettias that I purchased during the holiday season will last into the new year. I bought three, one each of the pink, white and red varieties. Then, I wondered what flower might represent January. A quick search gave me the information I sought, but revealed that the poinsettia is not, in fact, the standard December flower. A few sites identify the narcissus plant as such. That doesn’t seem right, given the fact that narcissus relatives daffodil and jonquil are recognized in March. Besides, who likes that name?

Any question we have can be asked online, and probably most have been at one time or another. It’s amazing how much time can be absorbed (wasted) in the pursuit of information that is largely pointless. Unless I happen to become a jeweler or horticulturist, my morning revelations probably won’t do much for me.

I have a love-hate relationship with social media and technology. The vast amounts of information available, the opportunities for sharing and connecting, the business opportunities—all are amazing benefits of all these “time-saving” tools that we now have at our disposal. However, how much time is saved, and how much is lost when we get caught up in online searches, discussions and mere musings?

And, how often do we dig into our paper and virtual Bibles with the same reckless abandon of time to hunt down answers and connect? As we begin a new year, most of us trying to do and be better, let’s consider our use of time. There are no better connections to make than the one we make with our Lord, no information more precious than what we learn from His word.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help me to wisely use the time I am granted. Lead me to, and help me maintain focus on, endeavors that serve others and glorify You in this new year.

“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV).

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