Sacred Discovery

By Elaine James –
I was so sad for Moses.

“One day the Lord said to Moses, ‘Climb one of the mountains east of the river, and look out over the land I have given the people of Israel. After you have seen it, you will die like your brother, Aaron, for you both rebelled against my instructions in the wilderness of Zin’” (Numbers 27:12-14 NLT).

My thought upon reading this is that God wants Moses to look over the land and maybe worship with Him. Then the blow came when God said, “You’re going to die because you rebelled.” All my thoughts of this being a Sacred Moment instantly came crashing down. But wait a minute!  I took a look at Moses’ response. “O Lord, you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community” (Numbers 27:16 NLT).

My reaction was, “Are you serious, Moses? Defend yourself!”

Instead, Moses’ response was full of humility, worship, care, compassion and love. He was “other focused”.

How would I have responded if God had just told me that I would die because of my rebellion? With deeper thinking and prayer I asked, “God, why did Moses not come to his own defense? Was he so old and worn out that he just accepted this fate?”

Hebrews 3:5 says, “Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant.” (NLT).  He was a holy man of God. God said “look out over the land”. Moses acknowledged, worshipped, praised and gave thanks! In that moment he connected to God as he always did. He loved God and trusted God more than his life. Moses clung to his hope of being in heaven with God one day. That hope far surpassed his earthly calling. What a leader Moses was. He didn’t have anyone around to impress. It was just him and God. Truly a sacred moment. Some days I do not find time to spend with God, yet I respond to social media, watch TV shows, exercise, read a book, do my puzzles and volunteer. These are my distractions. I allow them to keep me from being fully devoted to God. Are you distracted, too?

Moses’ sacred moment with God helped me with a sacred discovery, not to condemn myself, but to pray for more sacred time with God. PRAYER:  I pray that I can fix my eyes on You today. I look forward to sacred moments with You, Father. I want to be other focused. Help me to be more aware of how I can do that. Amen.

Raisin Brants

By Susan Dollyhigh –

 

I bowed my head and prayed, “Dear Lord, thank you for this beautiful day. Please bless this cereal to my body. Amen.” I dipped my spoon into the bowl, and filled it full of crunchy flakes, plump raisins and cold milk.

Ummm, ummm, I love Raisin Bran.

I took a few more bites, dropped my reading glasses from the top of my head to my nose, and opened my Bible. I read awhile, then dipped my spoon back into the bowl and brought it up to my mouth. Now my dentist has always told me that I have a small mouth, ahem, so I guess that’s why I missed the opening, and ended up with milk dribbling down my chin. I turned from reading to clean my face, and noticed that my raisin bran looked a little strange.

Some of those raisins are really small.

I pushed my reading glasses up my nose, and leaned in closer.

Ugh! And they are swimming in the milk!

I spit and sputtered, and then glared at the surviving ants. But they didn’t notice; they were too busy floating around in the milk, catching waves on raisins and lounging on bran flakes. They were totally oblivious to the fact that a dollar pair of reading glasses had just saved them from being eaten alive. Ugh!

In Psalm 119, the psalmist asked God to open his eyes so he could see wonderful things in His law. But the psalmist wasn’t referring to his natural eyesight that allowed him to read words and discover historical facts. The psalmist was asking God for supernatural illumination so he could understand deep, hidden, secret things in God’s Word. He wanted to see spiritual things – God’s glory and beauty and excellence.

Before I read my Bible, I pray and ask God to open my spiritual eyes so I might have discernment and commune with Him. And these days, I’m asking Him to help me remember my reading glasses – even when I’m eating cereal. I can still taste those raisin “brants”.

Ask God to open your spiritual eyes. The supernatural experience is out of this world!

“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18 NIV).

PRAYER: Father, thank you for giving us spiritual senses so we might experience You in all Your glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The James Approach

By Elaine James –

 

When my son was about two years old he bit a little boy in a child play class we were taking together. The mother abruptly turned to me and blurted out “Why did your son do that? What are you going to do about that?”

I thought to myself: First of all, the bite did not break skin-thank goodness. Second of all, let’s let just ask him? Really?

I was appalled.  I wanted to lash back asking, “What did your son do that made my son bite him?” But I restrained myself.

I think we can find reasons daily to quarrel with anyone. I left that lady with a quarrel going on in my mind thinking, “I should have said that or next time I will say that.” Aren’t quarrels crazy?

James stated: “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:17-18 NIV). I use this as a guideline to go through my list of arguments against a person to see what my motives are all about.

Why quarrel? The James approach regarding wisdom is a great list to use as a self-exam so we can measure our reasons for not quarreling.

Joseph used the word “quarrel” when he made a deal with his eleven brothers to go retrieve their father Jacob and bring him back to Egypt. As they were getting ready to leave Joseph turned to them and said, “Don’t quarrel on the way!” (Genesis 45:24 NIV).  Joseph had an intuition just like James about wisdom. It helped him to deal with his brothers and to run the country of Egypt. He sowed in peace to reap a harvest of righteousness. Something he obviously knew his brothers lacked.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1 NIV).

The Influence of Faith

By Carin LeRoy –

 

When my husband was a young man serving in the military, he went home on leave to see family and friends.  He visited with one of his buddies that had grown up with him in the neighborhood. His friend had since become a Christian and began sharing about his new faith. Later when my husband began searching for truth, he thought about that friend’s conversation. He found a Bible and began the journey of reading Scripture. My husband realized his need for Christ.

Being a witness and influencing others for Christ is an important part of our Christian life. Sometimes it’s not just a conversation with someone, but also our lifestyle that attracts others to Christ. Abraham was a man of great influence and witness– not only to the nations around him but also to his household. In Genesis, we can see how Abraham influenced his servant for Christ.

Desiring to find a good wife for his son, Isaac, Abraham asked his most trusted servant to go back to his homeland to search for a wife.  “Go to my relatives,” he told the servant. Then he gave explicit instructions on how he should look for a wife and made him swear to follow his directives. As the servant traveled to that distant homeland, I’m sure he felt overwhelmed at the responsibility. Rather than believe in his own ability to make the right choice, he chose to do what he had seen Abraham do many times. He prayed to his master’s God.

“Then he prayed, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today…’” (Genesis 24:12 NIV).

We know that prayer was answered. God orchestrated the perfect events that led the servant to make the right choice for Isaac’s wife.  After finding her, he bowed and worshipped God.  He realized that Abraham’s God was real because he experienced how his own prayer had been answered. This became the point of his own belief in God.

Do others realize that we have a personal relationship with Christ? Is our lifestyle a witness and are we consistent in our walk with God?  As we go through each day, let’s remember how important it is that our lives be a testimony to those around us who may not know Christ.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to be a witness for You. Give me boldness to share my faith with others. Help me to have a lifestyle that will draw others to Christ.

“Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor.  He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.

Then he prayed, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, “Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,” and she says, “Drink, and I’ll water your camels too”—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.’

Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor” (Genesis 24:10-15 NIV).

Put On Your Shine

By Cheri Cowell –

 

Let’s be honest. Two subjects are lightning rods in the workplace—politics and religion. Some workplaces are zero-tolerance zones when it comes to religion. Even if you are blessed to work in a business run by those with Christian principles, the differences on religious views can be tricky to navigate. So as not to rock the boat, do you simply put your Christian values in a lockbox from nine-to-five?

Scripture gives us an alternative approach to the lockbox. We’re told to let our light shine. Light doesn’t use words. It doesn’t argue its point. Light simply brightens a room, and it helps show the way. How? It does it through its presence. When we let our inner light, which is Jesus Christ, shine, that interior light warms hearts. When we put on our Shine, we bring glory to God without a single word spoken. If you work where it is unwise to discuss your faith, determine to let your light do all the talking.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NIV).

Prayer: Help me remember that arguing my point is often less effective than simply putting on my Shine—Your Light shining through me.

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