Things I Never Thought I’d Say

By Janet Morris Grimes –

Sometimes I have to chuckle at what our society has become. Just a few short years ago, the following statements would have made little sense:

“You will never guess who just tweeted me?”

“Did you check me in at this restaurant?”

“I need a good status update.”

“Heading to Starbucks to do my homework.”

“Double click on it.”

“Scan it.”

“Did you Google it?”

“I got an email from my car saying my tire pressure is low.”

“Can you go return these movies to the Redbox machine?”

“I DVR’d the game. Don’t tell me who won.”

“Did you get my Hey-tell message?”

“Hopefully, our video will go viral.”

“Don’t click on that link. You will get a virus or lose your hard drive.”

“I’ve been hacked by someone in Bangladesh.”

“My GPS almost sent me straight into a lake.”

“I am running out of memory.”

These statements make perfect sense to us today, but within a few short years, they are likely to be obsolete as well. It is impossible to keep up with the changes in technology, and at times, the challenge to do so can be overwhelming and exhausting. As soon as we master a new gadget, another comes along to remind us that we will never catch up.

I recently read of a new television series on NBC called “Revolution” that depicts life in the United States fifteen years after an electromagnetic pulse has disabled all electronics. There simply is no power, and survival goes to those who learn to do without it.

I find that frightening as my below average survival skills learned from the Girl Scouts thirty years ago have not been well-maintained. I was forced to clear all remnants of how to weave together a raft made from twigs from my brain so that I could upgrade to the latest version of Twitter.

One only has so much memory available, after all.

I have no idea what the future holds; technology or otherwise. But I know that God has it all in the palm of His hand. And He never changes.

Thank goodness. That is more than enough for me.

“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).

My Car or My Oversized Purse?

By Janet Morris Grimes –

While the gas was pumping, rather than cringe at the rising prices, I chose instead to clean out my car.

I started with the trash, which proved to be a series of receipts or unopened junk mail, and a newspaper that featured the plight of the homeless in our area. Next was my prayer journal and a couple of partially read books, which I slid into a rear seat pocket. The umbrella went into the trunk, where it fought for space with the jumper cables, a bottle of coolant, a quart of oil, and an unexplained decorative glass bottle of Coke.
In the back seat was a box that held my bottle of water with a hook that I take on walks with me, a leaking bottle of Benedryl, and a mismatched series of things that travel best in boxes. A bottle of hairspray. A comb. Some extra deodorant, and exercise clothes, and my tennis shoes with an extra pair of socks.

A flowered bag of clothes no one will claim also rests in the back seat, something I need to ask my daughters about next time I see them.

The keys that I need to get into my mother’s house are in the console, along with a few barrettes or ponytail holders, a broken pair of sunglasses and our GPS system. In the side pocket of the door are some maps, an ice scraper, and a miniature phone directory.

In short, my car has become the place I keep everything I could possibly need at any given moment.

It is my oversized purse.

PRAYER: Dear God, Thank You for the way you care for us, even in the midst of our idiosyncrasies. You created us to be funny, quirky, and to be able to laugh at ourselves. Thank You for this gift, and we hope we bring a smile to your face from time to time as well.

“It Is Finished.”

By Janet Morris Grimes –

“To-Do List”

Go to grocery
Get hair cut
Get dog’s hair cut
Orthodontist
Get oil changed
Clean out car
Clean house from where I cleaned out car
Buy stamps
Mail rent check, but not too early
Pay bills online
Document that I paid bills online
Buy wedding gifts
Get estimates on roof replacement
He
There aren’t many days I can completely cross anything off my list. Done. Finished in a way that I never have to give it any further thought.

Instead, my life seems to be run by a series of unfinished business. Ongoing appointments at the orthodontist, bills that keep showing up, unexpected expenses on the house that never stop, maintenance issues on our vehicles. The list goes on and on, and on the rare occasion that I do actually get to mark something off it, it creeps back in a few weeks later.

It’s enough to make me wonder if I ever accomplish anything at all. Is anything ever finished?

It is also enough to make the words of Jesus as He hung from the cross resonate even more. The book of John shares it like this:

”Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:28 – 30 NIV).

Jesus had completed his purpose. Done. Completely finished. He was afraid, but He did it anyway. He begged for God to find another way to compensate for our sins, but when He understood that we could never be reunited with our Father except through Him, He gave up His Spirit. Long before Jesus hung from the cross, He made the decision and the commitment.

And it is finished.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Thank You for finishing what You started. Thank You for loving us enough to sacrifice everything. Thank You for the peace that comes in knowing that it is completely finished.

Detours

By Janet Morris Grimes –

The sun peeked over the trees in an early morning yawn. It’s rays reflected off the lake, blinding me with a gush of wonder. With a gentle breeze, the 75 degrees of September was worth the wait after a long, hot and dry summer with humidity that seemed to weigh me down. I trekked along the paved path that bordered the lake, lost in my own world, singing to music in my ears that no one else could hear.

This was my day to be alone. Well, to be alone with God. With a new job and a recent move, I was overstimulated with too much busyness and needed time to take a breath, which led me to the lake on one of the most perfect days ever created.

I came across a fork in the path. Something I normally would have passed right by, sticking, instead with what I knew and was familiar. But I had just been praying, between the first and second stanza of a NeedtoBreathe song, (my theme for the day) for God to direct my steps. My specific prayer was to make His voice clear above the added noise in my life. I wanted Him to know I was still listening, probably now more than ever.

“Take this path.”

It wasn’t a voice, but rather a command, like an awareness of something I knew beforehand.

I didn’t question it. My reason for coming, after all, was to seek God, and He appeared to be everywhere, so wherever that unknown path led was fine with me.

Soon I was perched on a large, flat rock by the water’s edge, away from the few hikers and bikers that wandered through, at a place I had never noticed before. After writing all my questions for the day, I opened my Bible to the book of Mark, and this is what I found:

“At that time, Jesus came from Nazereth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven beign torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness…. (Mark 1:9 – 12 NIV).

”Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35 NIV).

I laid back against my newly discovered rock and contemplated how Jesus dealt with all that He was called to do. He took time away from others to refocus, to make sure He understood where God was leading, and to ask questions. My guess is He took many detours throughout His life, as He went where the Spirit led.

And on this perfect day, I was thankful that He had done the same for me.

How Do You Worship?

By Janet Morris Grimes –

In a recent discussion about styles of worship, a friend told me that he and another member of his church are touring the area, visiting churches of all denominations that are experiencing extended periods of growth to find some common denominators.

What they found is this: a church that loves God first and people second is a church that draws others in. They aren’t focused on numbers and size, but by focusing on the needs of the people in their community, growth happens as a natural by-product of the love they dish out. At one church they visited, they had a moment where everyone prayed for someone that needed Christ by name.

The church where I am a member in Antioch, Tennessee is a perfect example. The building is likely to be as full of people on a weekday than during Sunday services. With outreach programs that teach English to non-English speaking people, serve the children of the inner city, serve the children of our own congregation, serve those recovering from addictions and teaching beginner Bible classes for those who are curious, each night of the week is filled with a new group that may not normally set foot in a Christian church for any other reason. With meals and a warm place to take a shower and sleep for the homeless during the cold fall and winter seasons, assistance with cleanup and meals following a massive flood in our area, and a coat drive for families in the neighborhood, our church has become known not for the building, but for the smiling and accepting faces people find when they walk in the doors for any reason.

When these people arrive, they see something that intrigues them enough to return. They see a love for families like their own, and they see enough to make them ask questions about Jesus.

Church growth has little to do with styles of worship. As it turns out, it may have more to do with the One who is being worshiped. Where Jesus is present, others are drawn in, like a city on a hill.

QUOTE: “Worship changes the worshiper into the image of the One being worshiped.” Jack Hayford.

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14 NIV)

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