Exhilarating

By Elaine James –

“Oh my gosh,” I screamed as I approached the top of a small hill. I clinched the brake handles of my bicycle and came to a screeching halt. There I was, face to face with a deer. I got off my bike in utter disbelief as eight other deer pranced across my path. They stopped only 10 feet away, then turned to stare at me. My heart was racing with delight. Life seemed to stop.

“This is exhilarating!” I thought to myself. “God does this moment really have to end?” It would be dark soon so I knew I couldn’t stay much longer.

The deer stood motionless for minutes, but began to leave one at a time, before I was ready, confirming the moment was over.

Some people approached from behind. When they caught up to me, I asked, with enthusiasm “Did you see that?”

“See what? “They retorted.

I gulped. “The nine deer that just surrounded me. ”

“No, we did not see anything.”

I could not believe it. I am so electronically challenged. You would think that I would be able to get my cell phone camera working to capture the moment! Without proof, would anyone even believe me?

“God, what just happened?”

God’s still small voice answered, “I brought you out to this forest preserve, just as I brought Elijah out of the cave to the cliff edge so I could pass by him. He discovered I was not in the wind, earthquake or fire that appeared before him. I am not in the deer. I am the creator of the deer. I chose to reveal myself to you.”

As I left the park that day, crying, I knew this was no coincidence. You see, I had been asking God to help me prepare to teach at an upcoming retreat that weekend. I had been meditating on 1 Kings 19, which is the story of Elijah.

As I laid my head on my pillow that night, I felt giddy, just as I felt as a little girl when I saw my favorite animal at the zoo. I giggled with excitement, for I knew I was ready to testify that “God wants to reveal himself to you too! Seek Him and you will find Him.”.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, help me to stay close to You so I can experience You more in my life.

“But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in Him” (1 John 2:27b).

Too Much Baggage

By Rosemary Flaaten –

“I’m sorry you have more baggage than is allowed with this ticket.” These words, spoken by the airline employee, sent my mind racing. What would I leave behind? I surveyed the suitcases bulging with books and new purchases. Suddenly the term “carry-on” took on a whole new meaning as I envisioned going into the restroom to slip on another layer of sweaters, change my flats to boots and fill up my briefcase in hopes of falling within the allotted baggage allowance.

“Baggage” can refer to the suitcases we take on trains, but it also is a quasi-psychological term that refers to the emotional things that encumber us. It is our baggage that restricts our freedom, progress, development or adaptability. Let me retell a story from 1 Samuel 8 & 9 that attests to the ongoing struggle with baggage in our lives.

“We want a King!” demanded the Israelites. So, God gave them the desires of their hearts and chose Saul whose view of himself was, “I’m only a Benjamite, from the smallest of Israel’s tribes and from the most insignificant in the tribe at that.”

One would think that Saul, having been chosen by the most highly respected Prophet of the day, having been told that he was to become a leader for the people, and having experienced such personal transformation, would move into this new role with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way!

The people were assembled. The crown was ready. Saul’s name has been called, but where was he? Samuel can’t find him and so enquires of God. God’s response should stop each one of us in our tracks. God finds Saul, the man He has chosen and equipped to become king, “hidden among the baggage.” Saul’s sense of inferiority, based on his heritage, became baggage that impeded his movement into the role God had for him.

What baggage are you carrying around? How are your present circumstances constrained because of a habitual warped view of yourself? Are you carrying so much baggage from your past that you cannot take hold of the new opportunities God is bringing your way?

Learn to travel lightly.

PRAYER: Lord, help me see myself as You see me and to let go of the past.

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14 NIV).

Unleashed Imagination

By Jarrod Spencer –

One question every American child is asked sometime during childhood is “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Some will state the occupation of a parent. Others may aspire to be a sports star, an actor/actress, or another type of celebrity. What was your answer when you were a child?

Why didn’t we make it to that goal? I think that part of the problem lies in this quote from William Arthur Ward, “Nothing limits achievement like small thinking; nothing expands possibilities like unleashed imagination.”

At some point, either you or someone very close to you will start to limit your achievement(s) by thinking small. In the movie “Rudy,” there is the transitional scene where the main character, who happens to be the baby of the family, says “Someday, I’m going to play football for Notre Dame.” Laughter and doubt comes forth. “Yeah right” are the thoughts. This small thinking and the many obstacles in life didn’t stop him from making his dream come true. If you saw the movie, you cheered along with him when he accomplished his goal.

What small thinking has limited your possibilities? Financial, doubt, fear, whispers from your conscience, life going in a different direction, jeers, faded passion? Why not determine where you are and reroute your direction so you can still expand the possibilities? Don’t let things stop you, just use the obstacles as opportunities to be re-routed. Imagination is absent of boundaries. Let yourself dream, and then begin to see how you can get from where you are to where you hope to be!

Don’t think small, maybe one day you’ll get to “play for Notre Dame” too!

PRAYER: Father, may I see where Your leading me and not be obstructed by any difficulties that may come my way. You have great plans for me and I look forward to living those plans out as time continues.

“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (Psalm 126:3 NIV).

The Joy of Pulling Weeds

By Hally Franz –

It made the list of the more notorious chores that my sister and I were charged with as kids. Dumping the “slop” in the ditch at the edge of the woods was always fun, as was assisting my father when he plucked ticks off the dogs and dropped the swollen vermin into a jar of gasoline. What girl doesn’t love that sort of thing? Not! While those were foul tasks, perhaps our least favorite was pulling weeds.

When spring arrived and weeds sprung up, Ellen and I were expected to spend time most days pulling weeds. Maintenance is important when dealing with weeds; they can pop up fast and take over. Twenty minutes was typically the expectation. But twenty minutes passed quickly if we were lying out in the sun or talking on the phone—not so for weed-pulling.

In my teenage opinion, it was a gross task; however, it was not without satisfaction. My father was particularly pleased when he saw the pile of purged weeds grow big. “I love to see a big pile of weeds,” he’d say. A productive session of weed reduction always resulted in kudos from him, and we liked that, even if we didn’t admit it.

Sometimes, pile size was more about chance than effort. Some weeds are easier to extract than others. Often the ones that spread like vines pull easily, and single ones stand far more solid, contrary to conventional weed wisdom.

Fast forward thirty years, and I have a husband who fights his war on weeds with poison rather than pulling. My children will tell their own stories one day. They call him “Rambo” when armed with the weed killer. Reminiscent of Sly Stallone returning to Vietnam to bring home the American soldiers, with weapons strapped on his back, my husband ventures outside with his chemical warfare and spray gun to eliminate the enemy.

Do we attack the spiritual weeds in our lives with the same gusto that we do those in our yards? When we find that an unkind attitude or some bad behavior has sprung up within us, do we exert energy to combat them? And, do we strive to keep our hearts clean from ugly, unwanted intruders that are not part of Christ’s original design? Whether our own spiritual challenges are easy or present bigger battles, we should always be ready to face them, confident in the strength that He provides. What great satisfaction there is in that!

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16 NIV).

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help me be aware of spiritual weeds that pop up in my heart and life, and give me strength to aggressively fight them, so that others can see Your work within me.

Self-Destruct Burgers

By Peter Lundell –

Recently a man suffered a heart attack while eating in a restaurant called—and I’m not making this up—“Heart Attack Grill.” No surprise that it can be found in Las Vegas.

The man was eating a “Triple Bypass Burger,” not to be confused with the even larger “Quadruple Bypass Burger.” People actually eat these burgers with three and four huge meat patties each. The slogan of this place is, “Taste Worth Dying For.”

Their front doors have big signs that say, “Caution! This establishment is bad for your health.” And they really bring in the customers. The owner of the place, whom they call “Doc,” wears a doctor’s white coat with a stethoscope around his neck. And the waitresses, whom they call “nurses,” are dressed like sexy nurses. Customers can even wear patients’ hospital gowns while they eat. If you weigh more than 350 pounds, you eat for free.

When the guy had his cardiac arrest, others thought it was a publicity stunt and snapped photos. The man is reportedly recovering, thankfully.

This place gives a new level of meaning to the idea of destroying yourself.

What drives us to self-destruction? Beyond the Heart Attack Grill, there’s smoking, drinking, drugs, or any addiction. Or how about socially accepted habits like chugging soda, eating unhealthy foods full of fat, sugar, and chemicals, then wallowing for hours in front of the T.V. Some self-destructive habits are less noticeable, like overworking and overspending.

If I’ve made you mad, well, sorry.

If we have a grasp of how our bodies are living temples of God’s Holy Spirit, or if we have a vision for a purposeful reason to live, we’ll tend to take good care of our bodies.

What are your self-destructive tendencies?

And what vision or reason to live leads you to care of yourself?

PRAYER: Lord, I am a living, walking temple of Your Spirit. And in You I have a reason to live and worship You and bless others in Your name. Lead me to honor You by taking good care of myself through all the days I live to serve You.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20, NIV).

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