YOLO

By Elaine James –

My daughter’s friend blurted out “I fell in love with the dress and I knew I couldn’t afford it. So I just opened a new store credit card and bought it. Oh well, “YOLO”.”

“What does “YOLO” mean?” I retorted. Just picture an annoyed teen response: attitude with eyes rolling and all, stating “Everyone knows what YOLO means. You Only Live Once.”

Catchy! I gazed out my window while rinsing dishes and let the phrase roll off my tongue, “YOLO.” I asked myself “Does that line up with what God has to say in His word?”

There are so many similar sayings such as “carpe diem” meaning seize the day. “Once in a lifetime experience” was what I said in my younger years. Do these catch phrases have soul meaning that requires some reflection? I say “Yes.”

Paul informed the church in Ephesus “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3 NIV). When I received Christ as my Savior the Holy Spirit came and dwelled within me, helping me to make decisions. Can Christians have “YOLO” moments?

Each year my husband and his Christian friends head to Canada on a fishing trip. They bring all of their fishing supplies and food and the owners provide cabins and some meals. The owners have seen some groups drinking too much and getting kind of crazy and causing trouble. They have commented to my husband “I love to watch your group have good clean fun.” He plans and budgets for the trip. It is a good “YOLO” moment.

The “YOLO” mindset can be okay when I am Spirit led. It is bad when I buy things, eat junk or do things with the “YOLO” mentality and regret it later.

The movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was filled with some good “YOLO” moments. I think God would agree with Ferris when he said at the end of the movie “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

PRAYER: God, when I say “YOLO”, can You help me to be wise? I know I live once and I have confidence that when I die I will live eternally with You. I am grateful for the Holy Spirit that guides me to live this life well. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Hard Drive Down

By Hally Franz –

Unless you are a technology expert, there are few things that strike fear within a body more than a computer crash. In reality, the word “crash” may not invoke the feelings of chaos that the event generally does. Perhaps, “calamity” or “catastrophe” would be better descriptors.

My recent cataclysmic computer trial and the corresponding conversations with the computer support personnel brought to mind war movies I’d seen in which doctors urgently carry out triage on incoming wounded. “He’s hit in the chest.” The hard drive has been wiped out. “What’s this man’s blood type?” Did you have an anti-virus program? “Stay with me soldier!” Is it under warranty? “He won’t be returning to the field any time soon.” We’ll have to order parts, and it could take a week or so.

I absolutely understand that my temporary computer problems in NO WAY compare with the horrible life-changing events that occur during war, but in those moments, they can feel pretty serious. In our world, nearly all of us rely on our paper or electronic planners, laptops and desktop computers, phones and e-mail. Those are the keepers of our information, and without them, we feel vulnerable, disconnected and lost.

While the details of our personal and work life cannot be trusted entirely to our human minds, our Heavenly Father has the whole of the universe at His fingertips at all times. The tiniest details of prayer requests around the globe, and the major events taking place in our world daily, are all under His control at any given time.

That brings me lots of comfort, calm and confidence in the Creator!

PRAYER: Awesome God, keep me ever mindful of Your magnificence. Humble me daily with the knowledge that Your hand has made all things, and You are in control in all circumstances, great and small.

“All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent” (Isaiah 28:29 NIV).

Spiritual Adultery

By Cheri Cowell –

One day while substitute teaching, I had a Kindergartener who did not want to follow any of my instructions. After the fifth or sixth time correcting him, one of the other children in the class said, “He never listens. He always does what he wants.”

To which I answered, “Wow that must be hard.” The boy stopped and looked at me quizzically. I then explained I had found that many of the people around me knew a lot of things I did not know and when I stopped long enough to listen, I saved myself a lot of heartache. It is the same thing with God and me. Sometimes I don’t listen and keep on doing what I want to do. But God has a better plan.

The bit of wisdom in today’s proverb is tucked in the midst of the chapter on the dangers of adultery. Although these scriptures make it clear they are speaking of sexual adultery, we can also glean the significance of a spiritual adultery. It says if we gain satisfaction, power, and esteem from anything other than God, then we have committed a sort of spiritual adultery. The penalty for adultery in Bible times was stoning, but God’s remedy is His grace. All He asks is that we turn from our ways and acknowledge Him. What an awesome God!

PRAYER: God, forgive me for allowing other things to become substitutes for the real thing—for You. Help me learn Your commands, learn Your teachings, and accept Your discipline. Thank You for being my lamp, my light, and my way which leads me away from spiritual adultery and into your forgiving arms.

“When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life” (Proverbs 6:22-23 NIV).

Restored Relationships

By Rosemary Flaaten –

Do you find yourself wishing your friendships could be authentic and loving? Do you wish you could forgive your parents and siblings? Do you long to know how to relate to your husband and children? Do you damn yourself for the choices you’ve made?

How do we bring about change in the way we relate to others? Do we just try harder? Do we give more and more of ourselves to a seemingly bottomless pit of relational need? Do we give less of ourselves, becoming more guarded and controlling? I could give you some quick tips to improve your relationships, but doing so would be like giving you a Band-Aid for terminal cancer. To get to the root of the problem in our relationships, we must have them connected to our most basic relationship: the relationship with our Creator.

Imagine arranging thousands of tiny pieces in straight lines. As soon as we get one line neatly placed, we bump the table, and are forced to start over. Over and over we try to get everything lined up, but even our best efforts do not produce the outcome we desire. Does this frustration sound like our attempts to improve our relationships?

Now imagine what would happen if those pieces were brought in contact with a magnet. The pieces would quickly line up and order would be created. So it is with life and relationships. Putting God at the center of our lives, through a surrendered heart, aligns our relationships, transforming chaos into order.

Only as we allow God to bring about heart change will we relate differently to others. Our relationships will be transformed as we’re filled up with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. None of these are qualities we can manufacture on our own. We need God to fill us with His character.

Prayer: Forgive me for trying to fix my relationships on my own. Help me to open my heart to You so that what flows out of me is Your character, O Father.

“Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them – living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious free life” (Romans 8:5-7 The Message).

Jumble Puzzle

By Elaine James –

My mind was jumbled with circumstances. It was like I had four words to unscramble in a Jumble puzzle and I needed to get to the solution phrase at the end. For many years I had been involved in a certain family’s life, but they are just not including me lately. I was coming up with a bunch of ideas as to how to convince them that I am qualified to be in their lives. What do you do when you want to be a part of something or someone’s life and they don’t call you?

I wasn’t getting anywhere with my thoughts. I really did not like myself. I felt as if the fruits of the Spirit weren’t operating in me at all. No matter how many times I forgave, I felt the anger rise up within me. Pride and jealousy were creeping in my soul. I chuckled to God, “I am not quiet enough am I?” LOL!

I heard, “No.”

I quieted down. I was able to hear the voice of TRUTH. He whispered, “You know when someone does not get invited to an event, or tries out for a play or team and does not get picked? How about when you have an interview for a job and you really feel qualified but do not get it? Even more painful is getting fired from a job when you don’t feel it is justified. You just are not called to that family. It has nothing to do with you. You will not be able to understand. Stop reading into what is going on.”

The whisper continued “I cannot explain now but I promise: I am your shepherd, I lack nothing. I make you lie down in green pastures, I lead you beside quiet waters, I refresh your soul. I guide you along the right paths for My name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:1-3 NIV).

I want to write the final solution phrase at the bottom of the Jumble puzzle. It would say: You Will Be Included. But God, the master of solutions, was leading me, for His name’s sake, down a different path. His scriptures were the clue words and His solution phrase was: YOU ARE CALLED ELSEWHERE. God helped me solve my negative thoughts with His solution.

Prayer: God in heaven I know there are circumstances in my life that are all scrambled waiting for Your solution. Please help me to be quiet and wait for Your solutions to come to me. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

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