Twitterland

By Elaine James –

I have been wondering what @ means before your Twitter name. After Googling Twitter language, I discovered that it precedes your handle or Twitter name/user name, kind of like the days of CB radio.

The pound sign (#) in Twitterland is referred to as a hashtag. It is used in front of a topic which people are discussing. An example of this is: Going skydiving #noregretssummer2011. Twitter search results for “#noregretssummer2011 can be seen by those looking at the same topic.

Twitterland is where you can find the latest things in the news, whether good or bad.

Talking in code and creating cute sayings have become an art today. To many people this can be fun and rather addictive in a race to see who is going to create the new hashtag and if it will go viral?

Imagine Twitter between King David, who had an affair with Bathsheba, and Nathan the prophet.(The name in parenthesis identifies who is “speaking.”)

(@nathantheprophet) visiting @kingdavid telling him a #sadstory about a #badguy
(@kingdavid) whoever the #badguy in the story is, must die. #burningwithanger
(@nathantheprophet) that man is @kingdavid #truestory
(@kingdavid) worst day ever, I have sinned against the Lord  #cantsleep.
(@nathantheprophet)  @kingdavid the Lord has taken away ur sin. U R not going to die. #goodnews  #mercifulGod.
(@kingdavid) #repenting #hardthingtodo #sosorry

Restoring our relationship with God when we have done something wrong takes time and sometimes there are consequences. David’s consequence was that Bathsheba became pregnant and the baby died.

Do you know a person who did something wrong? Could this person be you? Perhaps you or this person has a good heart, but made a mistake. David did something wrong, yet God still loved him and chose his descendents to be in Jesus’ bloodline. God never gives up us. When someone genuinely has a good heart, but screws up anyway, we should give them another chance. We should all be in awe of God’s forgiving merciful heart.

I am in awe of God’s amazing character.

Twitter only allows you to write 140 letters in a message. Thankfully, when we talk to God we can use unlimited words.

Should you enter Twitterland? If you choose to tweet, you will find a whole new world of chatting, updating, networking, laughing, crying and being distracted. More people are entering Twitterland and leaving the texting world. #keepingupwiththetimes @elainejames123

PRAYER:  Lord, thank You for Your incredible, merciful heart. I need more of Your heart.

BIBLE VERSE: “When David’s time to die approached, he charged his son Solomon, saying, ‘I’m about to go the way of all the earth, but you—be strong; show what you’re made of! Do what God tells you. Walk in the paths he shows you: Follow the life-map absolutely, keep an eye out for the signposts, his course for life set out in the revelation to Moses; then you’ll get on well in whatever you do and wherever you go’” (1 Kings 1:2 MSG).

The Bouncing Spider

By Peter Lundell

Under the front eaves of my house, a spider web stretches seven feet from the roof gutter to the bushes below. At the center of this engineering marvel hunches the spider. The little bugger is about the size of my fingernail—and it bounces.

If I blow on the spider or reach close, the thing jiggles itself violently up and down. The whole web vibrates. On one hand, it seems to be a natural defense mechanism designed to scare off a predator. On the other hand, the jiggling web is more likely to catch something.

The spider doesn’t skitter away. It doesn’t hide. Even after the web was destroyed, the next day the spider was rebuilding.

This bouncing spider inspires me. Despite the fact that I am 10,000 times bigger than it is, it still defies me. And it takes a stand (or bounce). Sure, it’s acting on instinct rather than rational thought, but even that’s part of the inspiration.

I think of all the things that threaten or scare me. What threatens or scares you?

Too often we freak out because we think so much about the threat that we don’t instinctively take a stand based on who we are and what God has promised us.

He has promised to provide for us, protect us, and strengthen us. And when God’s plan really is for us to suffer, He is there with us, guiding us in His purpose.

Some of God’s greatest truths are seen in the natural world and its creatures—great or small. Take a lesson from the bouncing spider. When you feel threatened or scared, don’t skitter and hide. Take your stand (or bounce if you like). The Bible is full of promises, many of which we haven’t experienced as we could, perhaps because we’ve skittered and hid.

How might you take a stand today?

BIBLE VERSE: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
(Psalm 46:1-3 NIV).

PRAYER: “Lord, You are the foundation of my strength and courage. I commit to make my stand (and bounce if need be) on this issue: ____________________ . . . .”

What Does God Want?

By Art Fulks –

It was a common conversation that I have with believers. Someone wanted me to know and understand his position about a decision that he had to make. I first told him that I loved him and that I wanted God’s best for him. But after listening and probing a bit, I heard something that really troubled me. He said he was going to make a list of pros and cons before making a final decision.

Why does that bother me so much? As followers of Christ, our process for making decisions should be different from that of the world. Yet what we too many times do is avoid the most important question: “What does God want?”

If we believe that God has our best interest at heart and has the power to bring into our lives that best if we follow Him, then why avoid asking the question? I asked that exact question and I believe this person answered it very accurately. He said, “I am not sure I want to know the answer.”

There are many decisions in my life that I wish now would have been preceded by this critical question. Certainly God gives us wisdom and intellect to figure out what to have for dinner. But how often do we get God’s perspective on weightier matters such as finances, relationships, vocation, education, etc.? When we do not ask God for His guidance in the most important decisions, we relegate our lives to asking God to bless our decisions.

God has given us His Spirit in order to make discerning choices. Opinions are everywhere and may even be godly. But as 1 John 4:1-6 tells us, we can ultimately know that our decision-making is sound based on two criteria: (1) Does it glorify Jesus Christ? and (2) Is it consistent with the teaching of God’s Word? If our ultimate goal in life is to glorify Jesus Christ, then it will also be for our best. And God gave us His Word as the fully sufficient resource to all of the questions of faith and life. You can depend on it.

BIBLE VERSE: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…’” (I John 4:1a NASB).

Opinion Versus Fact

By Carin LeRoy –

Sitting in a courtroom recently as a prospective juror, 24 of us were asked questions and expected to give truthful answers. Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys were seeking  people who would give an impartial judgment on the case.

In the courtroom, the judge over the proceedings was seated high above everyone, giving him an aura of authority and control. His words were to be heeded, and when he spoke, everyone listened. We were to judge the case by the facts – not opinion or bias.

How many of us live life by our opinion, how life appears to be, or what others think of us, rather than the facts God presents to us in scripture?

Opinion: God can’t forgive me for all the things I’ve done.
Fact: “As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us” (Psalm 103:12 NET).

Opinion:  It’s okay to tell a little white lie.
Fact: “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful” (Proverbs 12:22 NIV).

Opinion: I don’t have gifts God can use.
Fact: “Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 4:10 NET).

Opinion: God doesn’t have a purpose for my life.
Fact: “For I know what I have planned for you, says the Lord. I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NET).

Opinion: I can’t forgive what that person has done to me.
Fact: “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength,” (Philippians 4:13 NIV).

Let’s remember to look at what God says. He has the final word, and His truth can be trusted. We look at the facts of scripture and take God at His word, by faith.

PRAYER: Lord, Help me to check my thoughts, attitudes and actions against scripture so that they are consistent with the truth of Your word. Help me to learn how wrong thinking can affect my life. Give me a heart that follows after You.

BIBLE VERSE: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105 NIV).

Seeds of Faith

By Cheri Cowell –

In my jewelry box is a tarnished and not-very-beautiful piece of jewelry. If someone broke into my home, they wouldn’t consider this a valuable treasure. But it is to me. It is a tiny mustard seed in a tiny glass ball on an inexpensive chain. The chain is too small to fit around my neck, yet I keep it to remind me of the lesson it brought. On the day of my confirmation, my grandfather gave it to me after sharing Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. He told me that even with a small amount of faith, I had enough faith to become all God wanted me to be. Later, in my turbulent teenage years I needed that promise. That necklace was a tangible reminder that regardless of how small my faith seemed, it was enough.

The mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds yet produces one of the largest trees in the Middle East. Like that seed, our faith is worthless unless the Father feeds it. When we come to Jesus in our alone time He feeds us. In the quiet, He can explain unspeakable things and help us to do, be, and have all He has ordained for us. In that stillness, God turns our mustard seeds into giant trees of faith.

PRAYER: I praise You, God, for the gift of faith. Help me believe that the little amount of faith I hold is enough to help me become what You have planned for me since the beginning of time. Help me to set aside time to be quiet and listen for all the things You want to show me.

BIBLE VERSE: “Again he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade’” (Mark 4:30-34  NIV).

« Previous Page — Next Page »