Prepare the Way

By Cheri Cowell –

My husband has learned what I mean by getting the house ready for company. He is okay with everything being put away or picked up, but I want to go a little further including mopping and sweeping, dusting and cleaning, and all the little touches like lighting candles. My definition is not the same as his, so when he prepares our home for guests according to my standards, I know he is telling me he loves me.

One reason I feel a need to go to such lengths when company comes is because I believe it tells the person coming that they are special and valued in my eyes. They may never know the difference, but I will know I have done everything I can to prepare the way for them to feel it and possibly see it.

In Matthew we hear John the Baptist quoting from the prophet Isaiah who was also telling his people they needed to prepare for God’s coming. Likewise, we can help those who have not met Jesus by making their paths straight. How can we do this? We begin by becoming their friends so they can know our hearts and see that we are genuinely different. Then when we enter desert times in our lives they can watch how we rely on a strength that is beyond our own. People who don’t know Him need to be prepared to meet Him through seeing Him in us.

“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him’” (Matthew 3:1-6 NIV).

PRAYER: Thank You Lord for those who prepared the way for me to know You personally. Help me befriend those who need to see You making a difference in someone’s life. I want to be used by You to prepare the way for Your coming in someone’s life today.

Tickled Pink

By Elaine James –

“Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” implored Paul. (Philippians 4:6 NIV)

People, when do you know it is time for a haircut?

Believe it or not (don’t make fun of me) I prayed “God I would really like to know from someone I respect if the way I am styling my hair lately is okay. Especially if I should do bangs or no bangs.”

A week later in a coffee shop I meet my friend, who I haven’t seen in a year. She walks in with glee in her voice declares “Elaine, I really like your hair and the way you have grown out your bangs. You look so much younger.” My heart was tickled pink with this quick answer to prayer! She even said I look like a movie star, but I won’t reveal which one.

The next day I told someone this story and their reaction was like “Oh come, on with all the starving people and problems in the world, you think God answered that prayer?”

“As a matter of fact I do,” I retorted. I know the attributes of God. Having a personal relationship with Jesus is intimate and as He wants to delight in me. I have seen Him do it in small ways and big. I have seen God answer a friend’s prayer who was craving apple pie. That day someone dropped off an apple pie! God is everywhere and He can take care of all at the same time. That is the mystery and sovereignty of God.

To help alleviate stress/anxiety I memorized Psalm 139. I had this person read part of it out loud “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely” (Psalm 139:1-4 NIV).

I told this person that God, from the first page of the Bible till the end, has shown Himself to many in unique ways. Gideon is a great example. He prayed asking God to allow a test; he took wool fleece, if there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You will save Israel. That is exactly what happened. But Gideon doubted and asked again; this time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew. God did it. And God also saved Israel.

Do you pray to God about everything? Maybe you have something you need to pray about now.

On a side note, Google “Do I need a haircut or not?” You will find a whole gamut of answers.

Wow! Praying made it a whole lot easier than googling and wondering.

PRAYER: Father in Heaven, I want to have a deeper relationship with you. I pray _________. Thank You for being there for me. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Twelfth Day of Thanksgiving

By Janet Morris Grimes –

On the twelfth day of Thanksgiving, my family gave to me:
A less than thankful turkey
2 football games
3 rounds of refills
4 rolls of Tums
5 photo sessions
6 men a snoring
7 naps a waking
8 unknown cousins
9 ladies cooking
10 extra pounds
11 potato casseroles
12 deviled eggs.
We truly do have much to be thankful for. May God bless you all richly this holiday season.
From the Devotional Team at The Christian Pulse

Don’t Blast the Bighorn Sheep

By Peter Lundell –

For the first time in my life I saw bighorn sheep. Normally reclusive, a heard of twelve stopped to eat near a roadside. The alpha male kept watch and nudged the rear ends of the others to keep them together. Two sheep pranced up a rock face that must have been 60 degrees. I could hardly believe my eyes.

Cars stopped along the roadside, and people milled about taking photos. A silent awe lingered in our midst. We all knew we were privileged to witness this gift of nature, which could vanish at any moment. Everything any of us had been doing stopped as we took in this blessing.

Suddenly a car horn blasted the holy silence, and we sheep oglers turned in shock and disbelief. A not-so-interested driver maneuvered her car along the road and seemed only to care that everyone else got out of the way. I doubted it was an emergency because she only expressed impatience of one who didn’t want to be bothered—in a national park, hours from anywhere else to go.

The contrast jolted me. How could a person be so oblivious? So self-interested? So willfully disdainful of a rare experience? I did not know.

Then I thought, am I ever that way? I’m often busy, and sometimes I get impatient. And when I am, I may be unaware of what I’m blasting out of my way. I do not like to think that I’m like that lady in the car. But sometimes I am.

God’s hand and things he would show us can be found anywhere and any time. I intend to avoid blasting my horns of impatience. I will avoid hurry, my eyes open, ready to see what God might show me at unexpected moments each day.

I hope you do too.

PRAYER: Lord, sometimes I’m in a hurry. May my heart always be attuned to whatever You have to show me and whenever that may be. My agenda is second; Yours is first. May I never forget.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10, NIV).

Traveling Between Blunders and Blessings

By Mollie Bond –

It was the best worst day. I traveled by myself to downtown Chicago for the first time for an interview. I sent out oh-so-many applications and resumes. This was one of two companies that called back. I put on my dry-clean only clothes, prepared my answers, and gave myself pep-talks. While on the elevated train, I got a phone call from the interviewer. They cancelled. I got off at the next stop, and started the train ride into despair.

After the train ride, I still had a 20-minute drive home. While sulking, I didn’t retrieve my paid ticket. I couldn’t get out of the garage. I didn’t have $40 for a new ticket. I kept putting my credit card into the machine, praying for the gate to let me out.

Eventually, a garage employee found me crying. I couldn’t catch my breath to tell my story. She said she’d pay my way out. A single working mom footed my bill. I couldn’t believe it, and instantly felt guilty as a single person. As that gate lifted, my spirits did too. I wanted to take a minute to thank God for this employee.

I pulled into the nearest gas station and prayed. The car jolted when a woman hit my parked car. She recently lost her job and didn’t have money to fix the “fat lip” from a previous accident on her front bumper. It bounced me off my recent rise in spirits. It was the worst of days.

After I quit wallowing, God repaired everything in one swipe. Later I got the job without the interview. I was let out of the gate without paying extra and I never again forgot to grab my paid ticket. The woman who hit me gave me job tips that I passed along to others. The car was not damaged.

Those plans and the pep-talk I gave myself that morning could not have prepared me for that day, yet God made it successful.

QUOTE: “When men have done their worst and finished, it is the time for God to begin. And when God begins He is likely, with one blow, to reverse all that has been done without Him.” F.B. Meyer

“There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord” (Proverbs 21:30 NIV).

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