I Love a Parade

By Cheri Cowell –

I love a parade. I love the excitement that builds as you wait along the parade route for the police car’s sirens signaling the start of the big event. I love the clowns, the floats, the antique cars, the equestrian units, and of course, the bands.

For many people the bands are the highlight of the parade, but for me the highlight has to be the children. There is something magical about a parade to a child. With every passing band, float, or clown a child’s eyes fill with wonder and awe.

That same childlike awe and wonder is what the prophet Isaiah was trying to stir in us as he wrote about Christ’s coming. When you hear these words does your spine tingle and your eyes fill with wonder and awe at the thought of such a spectacle?

In studying this passage, it is interesting to note the darkness and gloominess of chapter 59 that gives way to the Light in chapter 60. In this chapter Isaiah calls on the people of Israel to “look up” from their sad situations and “see” the Light piercing the darkness. What a great image for those of us in the midst of our own “sad situation.” This implies that even though the Light is currently filling the earth some of us could actually miss it if our eyes are cast downward.

Where are your eyes focused today? Are they focused down on all that is wrong, or up where God’s light pierces the darkness?

PRAYER: Lord, God, how I long for Your return. Excitedly I await the trumpet sounds signaling Your entry, and ask that in the meantime You help me to keep my eyes lifted up away from everyday struggles and toward You and Your kingdom. I wait for the beginning of the Grand Parade.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you” (Isaiah 60:1-2 NIV).

Seeing Beyond Sight

By Peter Lundell –

How can you see better after going blind?

Janet Perez Eckles has. She’s one of the most cheerful and enthusiastic people I’ve ever met. I got to know her at a writer’s conference, and afterward I waited with her at the airport until her husband came. Were they ever in love! She’s a constant inspiration.

At age 31 Janet lost her eyesight to Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary disease that deteriorates the retina.

“I used to be a run-of-the-mill chica,” she says. “After going blind, I’ve gained insight about life, depth as a person, and I’m living with purpose.”

She’s obviously not glad she went blind, but through her faith in Christ, she has learned to see life better now than she did when she had physical sight. She naturally went through a period of despair and struggle. But she didn’t stay there. She knew she had to make a decision about how she would live. This is her key: “I’m able to find joy in the darkness.”

Where Janet lacks physical sight, she’s learned to discern unseen things more than most of us who see. She puts it this way, “I’ve learned to see beyond eyesight. God showed me that my blindness is a tool in his hands to show me how to help others see the best in life.”

She writes books and travels nationally and internationally as an inspirational speaker—alone with her cane. And she doesn’t seem to have time or interest to think about her handicap, because she’s so concerned about other people.

We all make choices about what we see and believe. Those choices determine everything else in our lives. What choices have you made—or could you make—to take a bad thing and grow something good?

PRAYER: Lord, take me beyond complaining about the bad things in my life. Whatever my personality may be, and I may not be like Janet, but I can turn to you and rise up and choose to see troubles differently. Open my eyes to do that. Lead me to take what is bad and from it grow something good, something wonderful.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 NIV).

The Goodness of Where We Are

By Jarrod Spencer –

What is a better time to celebrate than the present? When you start to add up all the blessings you have, you tend to appreciate life more and more.

The past has already happened, so to bring it to the future is only carrying unneeded baggage. This is usually easier said than done, especially when you are emotionally attached to some of the past baggage. I have negative memories of my childhood that I can remember pretty vividly. I have found that those memories may come with me, but how it affects my future depends on me. I can decide if it will permeate into other areas of my life, or I can try to release it and go on with life.

This has been a struggle at times, but it helps to leave the baggage in the past and move on with the future so I can also appreciate the present. Gigi Galluzzo has a quote that is poignant to the idea of appreciating the present. She says, “Life is indeed grander than ever, when we take the time to understand every bit of the goodness that exists right where we are.”

Have you ever been in search of something, then discover that it was literally right in front of you? I have, and it kind of made me feel like a foot at that moment.

That is similar to how we should react when we are caught looking backward and forward and not appreciating the present. Time is something you cannot take back. It is here for the moment but then it is gone. Moments add up to minutes which add up to hours. Hours add up to be days which add up to be weeks. Weeks add up to months which add up to years. To drift from one to the next can create losses in life.

I lost a friend recently to a fatal motorcycle crash. With no warning, he and his wife did not have the opportunity to share any final words together. They didn’t know that hours after they said ‘goodbye’ he would be gone.

May we all learn to appreciate the present as we never know how much future you will have in this world.

PRAYER: May I always appreciate the present, even in times I am in my valleys. Help me to see the good things, even when times are rough. You are the great Creator.

“Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells” (Psalm 26:8 NIV).

Knock Knock

By Rosemary Flaaten –

When the Devil comes knocking at your door, simply say, “Jesus, could you get that for me?”

I smiled as I read this quote posted on my Facebook page. Boy is that good advice, but is it scriptural?

There are two passages that match the intent of this slogan. The first is Genesis 4:7 “But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” The second is 1 Peter 5:8. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Temptations abound and my ability to withstand my selfish desires or to dabble with sin does not have the best track record. Some days it feels like sin is incessantly ringing my doorbell. Each time, I am tempted to open the door. You know how hard it is to ignore a ringing doorbell. The urgent and repetitive ‘ding-dong’ eventually gets on one’s nerves. Out of frustration or a caving in of determination, I answer the door.

But what happens when I ask Jesus to answer the door? First, the ringing will stop because the Devil will flee. Scripture assures us that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow (Philippians 2:10) and all evil will dissipate (Luke 10:17) The devil and his evil cronies cannot stand being in the presence of Jesus. Even the mention of His name is enough to win the battle. Imagine if Jesus were the One to fling the door open and adamantly say “GET LOST!!” Can’t you see those demons tripping over themselves to flee the presence of the Holy One.

On the other hand, if I answer the doorbell of temptation, I am apt to try and negotiate or rationalize or just simply hear them out. My intentions may be good but all too easily I can be talked into entertaining the idea, and before I know it, sin has entered my life. Now I am in even greater danger. Resistance is just that much harder once I’ve opened the door and I’m fully entertaining that which I said I would normally not do.

So, next time you are tempted by sin, don’t bother wasting your time negotiating, contemplating or arguing. Simply whisper the name of Jesus and let him answer the call.

PRAYER: Jesus, help me to remember that You are only a breath away and that when I call, You will answer. Thank You for your faithfulness. Thank You for being the Almighty God.

“With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).

Getting Ahead of God

By Art Fulks –

A commonly known example in the Bible of someone getting ahead of God is found in Genesis 16. Here, Abram and Sarai have been waiting for God to give them a son who will be their family heir and the one through whom the Messiah will come. After waiting for ten years, they agree to use a surragate mother named Hagar, a servant. As a result, they experienced personal strife that still exists in national stuggles today.

Why did they get ahead of God? For many of the same reasons we do today. First, they sensed that God’s timing or lack of action was a sign of His abandonment. Sarai even blamed God. In God’s seeming silence, Abram listened to Sarai’s alternate plan and they both agreed that God needed their help. It does not take much for me to see instances from my own life that directly correlates to their experience.

When we get ahead of God, our relationships with Him and others are strained by our sin. Often, we even blame others for our circumstances. But God pursues and responds by showing up personally and exhibiting grace. Yet His call is for us to repent and return from our detours to trust His plan and timing again.

On my journey, I see three basic steps that generally lead to unpleasant detours. First, I begin to struggle with His timing and get impatient. Then I begin to allow culture to impact me into walking by sight and not be faith. Third, I begin to second-guess God and believe that He needs my help. My experience agrees with the old preacher, Vance Havner, who said, “The detour is always worse than the main road.”

The invention of the GPS has given us new options in a traffic jam. You can always hit the ‘Alternate Route’ button. But I often find that the barrier to free flowing traffic is not as far ahead as I thought. The detour keeps me moving, but with more energy and struggles than if I had stayed on track.

Three questions have helped me discover if I am walking by faith or not. (1) Am I willing to wait for God’s timing? (2) Am I most concerned about God’s glory or my happiness? (3) Am I obeying God’s Word in the process with inner joy and peace?

One of Satan’s greatest tools is the detour…trying to get us to move ahead of God. And one of his greatest lies is telling us that our ‘disobedience detours’ must become the permanent road for the rest of our lives. But God is waiting to help us get back on track.

“And He said, ‘Where have you come from and where are you going?’” (Genesis 16:8a NASB).

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