Idleness Stagnates, Involvement Excites

By Jarrod Spencer –

Have you ever noticed yourself being more tired on a day that you could lay around than on a day that you had to get up and go all day? I have. It seems odd that our bodies would be constructed in such a way that you get energy by expending energy.

I think that this principle holds true in the Body of Christ. If all who make up the Body are laying around, spiritually, then we are going to have less energy than we would if we were busy. As energy is given to the physical body, I think there is a parallel to the energy given to the spiritual body. I’ve been guilty of being lazy for God. I’ve felt that feeling of “church is just a few songs, some prayers, Lord’s Supper, a sermon, and an hour” feeling. Then, after you are done, you either chastise your experience or are grateful that you are finished and can move on to more fun things. I’ve lain around all week, spiritually. Looking back, I was more tired from not doing anything for God, than by accomplishing something.

John warns the lukewarm in the book of Revelation. (Revelation 3:16) Paul warns the idle of Thessalonica. (I Thessalonians 5:14) Zephaniah warns the complacent (Zephaniah 1:12). So, we can see that the less busy for God we are, the more likely we are to be spiritually tired. Busy for busy sake is not the same as being busy for God. Being involved with the church family and its activities is one way to be busy for God.

Based off of my personal experiences, I’ve learned that being involved keeps me excited to be a part of the Kingdom. I hope you will too!

PRAYER: Father, thank You for creating opportunities that I can be a part of which allows me to be involved in Kingdom living. Keep the opportunities coming because I love to team up with You!

“At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad’” (Zephaniah 1:12 NIV).

The Fatherhood Theme Park

By Janet Morris Grimes –

Father’s Day. It gets me every time.

As a child, it was as if I was standing outside the gates to a theme park. I see all the families entering, hand-in-hand. Their Daddy clutches the tickets, counting to make sure he has enough for everyone. No one goes in alone. The lines are long, but the wait just makes it better once they click through the turnstiles of triumph.

Costumed characters welcome them with waves and hugs, their plastic faces etched with permanent smiles. But the smiles of the kids are even wider. Cameras capture a thousand photo moments before they reach the first ride. Even walking, together, is an adventure inside the theme park.

The scent of something wonderful wafts over me. Maybe it’s cinnamon. Fudge? Or corn dogs? Definitely a mixture of all of them; as if happiness were a smell. Ten different versions of carousel music provides the soundtrack to the day. Their day.

Screams of delight ruffle through the tall trees that hide the fun things they get to do. Just enough of a roller coaster taunts me from above. A train of silver buggies crank their way to the top. They careen down the other side, twisting in ways I didn’t see coming. Terror turns to thrill on their faces. They line up to do it again. Just because they can.

The sun drops behind the trees, bringing a breeze that didn’t exist before. Maybe it will cool off the sunkissed cheeks of those who are now leaving. Strollers are filled with too many shopping bags to hold the children who once belonged there. Instead, their parents carry them, asleep, draped across their shoulders. The leftovers of something sticky and wonderful still dribbling down their smushed up faces. They wear hats, or ears, or both; something they didn’t have when they arrived.

There expressions reveal the most perfect of days. Content. Exhausted .Together. As if whatever they anticipated before entering was even better than expected….

Peering through the bars is no way to experience a theme park. It’s impossible. I would have given anything to get inside. Not for the rides, the characters, or the ice cream. What I longed for, more than anything, was to be that little girl sitting on top of her father’s shoulders.

But you have to have a ticket to get inside. And I never had a ticket.

This is what it feels like to be fatherless. No matter how many times you watch, from a distance, you can’t imagine yourself being allowed to go inside.

But you know you are missing out on something wonderful.

PRAYER: Father God, bless the fathers and the families that You created. Give them strength to shine for You. Mend any broken relationships, and thank You for being such a loving father to each of us. It is because of You that we know how to love unconditionally.

Living Squinty-Eyed

By Cheri Cowell –

Sunglasses in Florida are just a part of life, but that part of life gets more complicated when you wear prescription glasses. This past Saturday, I knew we were going to be out in the sun all day and decided to wear my contacts, keeping my sunglasses on a string around my neck. This was a much easier method swapping between my regular glasses prescription sunglasses. The only real downside to this decision is I can’t really see with my contacts. Oh, I can see to walk, but don’t ask me to read anything. I end up squinting, a lot, when I need to read.

Jesus actually talked about living a squinty-eyed life versus a life lived with wide-eyed wonder.

This passage in Matthew approaches the idea of light and eyes from two different angles. One being the eye as the window through which light enters, and the other as the lens through which man visions the world. Jesus uses both interpretations to teach the lesson that seeing the way God sees is the only way to see truthfully. If you and I want to live a life full of light, we must do so without squinty-eyed greed and distrust.

PRAYER: God, I Praise You for helping me see things with more of a God’s eye view. Help me to live more wide-eyed and less squinty-eyed so I might be filled to overflowing with wide-eyed wonder.

“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!” (Matthew 6:22-23 MSG).

How’s Your Memory?

By Rosemary Flaaten –

My personality is such that I tend to live in the moment and dream of the future. I enjoy the friendships of today and am always on the lookout for my next best friend. I revel in that which I’m presently engrossed as well as the opportunities before me.

Unfortunately, my memory of the past is less robust. I have a general recollection of events or people, but details of the past all too often don’t stick to my memory board.

A weak memory muscle can be beneficial. I’m also likely to forget the details of stressful situations or strained relationships and the times I felt embarrassed or ashamed quickly fade. I probably won’t remember people I met who I didn’t like or who brushed me off. The past, rather than remaining detail specific, tends to get put into the blender of my mind and gets chopped up and mixed together.

Thankfully though, I’m also aware that this is a weakness and the negative effect it has on me. I have come to realize that the most acute danger is forgetting the blessings bestowed by God into my life. The Psalmist David directs us to “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:2 NIV). We are directed to remember every single blessing that God has given us.

For a memory–challenged person like me, this presents a real test that requires discipline. Choosing to start each prayer with thanksgiving helps me focus, even just for a brief second, on the faithfulness of God. Every day I choose to reflect on the multitude of ways God has evidenced His goodness to me. God’s unending grace and love is a blessing that must remain in the forefront of my gratitude. I keep a journal that chronicles the details of what I have learned from the Holy Spirit and Scripture. I daily exercise my ability to recall.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to remember Your faithfulness and out of these memories, may gratitude and praise flow freely.

“Yet this I call to mind and there I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21 NIV).

Holiness: A Listening Heart

By Carin LeRoy –

Ernest Hemingway once said, “I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” Although his life ended in tragedy, as a journalist he recognized the importance of a skill that many of us lack.

Sometimes when my family speaks to me, I realize I didn’t hear what they said because I wasn’t paying attention. How many of us go through seminars, meetings and church services and then can’t remember all that was said because we weren’t engaged mentally? Listening is a skill we all need to improve.

As we continue to learn what a holy life is, another aspect is having a heart that desires to know more and a willingness to listen to God’s instruction. In Luke 10, Mary is a great example of a listening heart. While Jesus was visiting at their home, she chose to sit and listen to Him speak. Martha, on the other hand, was too busy to stop her activity and spend time with Him. She missed out on what God was teaching because she was “too busy.”

How many times do we do the same? Even though Martha was doing good (fixing food for all the guests), God still said, “Mary has chosen what is better.” Mary placed importance on spending time with God. Mary listened because Jesus was speaking, and she knew to listen.

Having a listening heart means we have a desire to learn from and obey God. He wants the best for us but cannot give it if we are distracted or placing more importance on other things

Proverbs 1 says, “whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm.” Remember, God has our best interest in mind if we can develop a heart that listens.

PRAYER: Thank You that Your words are truth for my life. Give me a willing and focused heart to hear You when you speak.

“How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, who obey the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe his rules, and seek him with all their heart, who, moreover, do no wrong,
but follow in his footsteps. You demand that your precepts be carefully kept. If only I were predisposed to keep your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, if I were focused on all your commands” (Psalm 119: 1-6 NET).

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