Doggone Wealthy

By Cheri Cowell –

When I was growing up, we had a huge collie named Happy. Happy was the perfect dog for children; he was protective, playful, gentle, and a lot of fun. We often dressed him up like a doll, and he loved to play in the Water Wiggle with us in the back yard. It was my job to feed Happy at night, which meant filling his water bowl, scooping a big cupful of dry food into his dish, and then topping it with table scraps. The bowl would almost overflow, but it didn’t take long for it to disappear. Every once in awhile my father would stop at the butcher to get meat for our family, and while there, he always got a box of bones for Happy. Once a week, my sister and I would go into the freezer and get one of those bones for him. You would have thought he had died and gone to heaven. Today I believe he is enjoying a doggie banquet in heaven, where even the lowliest of us here on earth will sup with God.

“Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.’ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, ‘Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.’ The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said. He replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’ ‘Yes it is, Lord,’ she said. ‘Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was healed at that moment” (Matthew 15:21-28 NIV).

A dog was a term the Jews used to demean Gentiles. Jesus was not demeaning the woman by using this term; he was showing their hypocrisy. She saw in Jesus someone whom she could trust so she offered to eat the scraps from His table if He would heal her daughter. This woman, a Canaanite enemy of the Jews, was then offered the best meal in town, for her faith brought her the very thing she wished. All of us are equal in God’s eyes, so we should not be surprised when one day we see who is seated next to us at His large banqueting table in heaven.

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for the privilege of even being allowed the crumbs from Your table, yet incredibly, You have offered me a seat of honor there. Help me treat others the way You see them: valuable, worthy, and to be honored.

The Invisible Man

By Cheri Cowell –

A few days ago some friends and I went out to eat at a counter service restaurant. When we entered we noticed a table full of older men enjoying their afternoon out with the guys and a group of women in the far corner near the kitchen. The restaurant was busy so when no one acknowledged our arrival we figured they just didn’t see us. We waited what seemed like five minutes without anyone saying anything to us. We almost left when a man came through the back door, but even he didn’t acknowledge us. We asked if anyone was going to help us and a waitress finally said, “I’ll be right with you.” I’m sure glad she said something. I was beginning to wonder if we had become invisible. God must feel the same way with us sometime.

God has great plans for us. He desires to give us more than we can ever imagine and all He asks in return is to be loved by us. He longs for us to acknowledge His presence, to see His love painted in the sky each day, to feel His breath in the breeze, and to love Him in response. When we acknowledge His name as the name above all names, we are saying to Him, “I see, I believe and I love you in return.”

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name” (Psalm 91:14 NIV).

PRAYER: God, I praise You today for all of the ways in which You show Your love. Thank You for being there even when I treat You as the invisible man. Help me see You more clearly, believe in You more fully, and love You more dearly today and everyday.

Inside Out

By Cheri Cowell –

Today I met a friend for lunch and through our conversation she learned that I indeed wore a southern belle gown and big picture hat for my wedding. For proof I pulled the picture from my purse. As she looked at the picture she said, “Funny, I didn’t picture you as the southern belle type.” To which I replied, “You’re right. I guess I was filling a role I thought I should play.” Come to think of it, I have played many roles in my life that were not accurate reflections of my inner self. Jesus can see beneath the surface and calls us to be who we really are.

The Pharisee had invited Jesus into his home, but Jesus knew that the man’s heart (his motives) were not pure. In Luke 11:39, we read that in order to reveal truth to the man, Jesus spoke of the inside and outside of a cup. True giving comes from what is inside, He tells the man, implying that his invitation to Jesus to dine with him was not given from a pure heart. He was just playing a role. His true character was revealed. Are you living a role that does not accurately reflect your true character? Jesus is more interested in lives lived from the inside out, and gifts given from a pure heart.

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. (Luke 11:37-41 NIV)

PRAYER: Father, Thank-you for tenderly revealing my inner self to me so that I can live a life that is clean from the inside out. Help me to clean the cup from the inside so I may accurately reflect Your image to the outside.

New Year and a New You

By Cheri Cowell –

Statistics tell us 90% of Americans will make New Year’s resolutions. Sadly, 50% of us will have abandoned our goals by the end of January. Of those still holding on to hope, only 50% will be realized. So, why do we continue this tortuous ritual?

Perhaps it is the hope that this year we will make better choices. This year, we tell ourselves, will finally be the year we turn that corner, flip over the new leaf, and begin again.

In another ritual, during ancient days, the standard or flag was carried into battle by one sworn to uphold all that the emblem signified, even to the point of wrapping his body in the banner before the fatal blow should the safety of the symbol no longer be secured.

In the same way, Christ was God’s standard-bearer to the world. His standard is the measure by which we are called to live.

Are the goals you’ve set for 2013 based upon His standard or someone else’s? Are God’s goals part and parcel of your own goals? Are serving the poor and disadvantaged part of your goals? Is time in God’s Word scheduled into your calendar? If you’re not sure, you may want to make one of your goals to spend some time getting to know your Standard-Bearer better.

When we know His ways, we’ll know our way.

PRAYER: God, I declare today that You alone are my Standard-Bearer. Help me to align my goals and priorities in 2013 so they reflect Your standard, Your goals, Your heartbeat.

“He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. From the west, people will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along” (Isaiah 59:16-19 NIV).

God and Dr. Suess

By Cheri Cowell –

I love Dr. Seuss! At Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park there’s a whole section dedicated to Seuss-ville. The Cat in the Hat ride tells the story of Thing 1 and Thing 2 and the destruction they create while Mom is gone. They do all the things Mom told them not to do and create a big huge mess while doing it. Then they hear Mom coming, and in a flash clean everything up just in time for her to walk through the door.

I believe we like that story so much because each of us harbors that rebellious spirit. Even though we know what to do, we choose to continue to disobey and do things we know we ought not to. We play this sort of cat and mouse (no pun intended) with God, hoping we can clean up our messes just in time for Him to walk through the door. It doesn’t work that way in real life, and we know it.

This is one of the scriptures that the popular “Left Behind” book series is based upon. Don’t get caught up in the details of this passage. God is not giving us “hints” so we can figure out when to expect Him. Jesus makes the point that life will seem to be going on as usual when His Second Coming will take place. Will we be rushing around trying to clean things up, or will we be ready?

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:36-42 NIV).

PRAYER: Thank You, God, that You will indeed return at the perfect time. Help me to be the faithful servant; ready, taking care of Your people, not seeking self-serving pleasures. Then help me become someone You can safely put in charge of “all Your possessions.”

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