Why Bother?

By Lori Freeland –

Some days I wonder why I bother to do anything for myself. Whether it’s reading a good book, which I’ve relegated to the quiet hours of late night. Taking a nap, which happened once last year. Or making good on my promise to write a little bit every day, which I’m attempting to do now.

I began the edit of this article at 9:30 a.m. and it’s now 11:17 a.m.

600 words. One page. Plus a barrage of questions from the three children who occupy my house. One by one, they rotate in to stand at the foot of my bed. I tiptoed into the bedroom earlier, when I thought they were not looking.

My fingers pause, suspended over the keyboard, as I grasp to freeze my train of thought for later.

The exchange goes something like this—
“Can I call Dad? I lost my tiny fairy book. The dog threw up on the stairs. Can I watch Martha Speaks? Do we have legal-size paper for my project—it’s due in an hour? Can I take a bath? Who ate all the Cookie Crisp?”

To which I reply, in order—
“Is your room clean? Did you look in your backpack? Go clean it up, it’s your dog. Is your room clean? Why didn’t you ask me this sooner? Is your room clean? Dad ate the cereal.”

Maybe a recording of my top ten answers would buy me some personal time? Or maybe I should surrender and realize I do not own my time. I may never own my time—as long as small people live in my house.

Lord, I need a revelation. A communiqué. An email. A text message. A tweet. Can nothing ever be about me?

You’re asking the wrong question.

Well, Lord, I often ask the wrong question.

Are you looking through My eyes? Do you want what I want?

Lord, I need more than Your eyes. I’m desperate for Your heart. Help me want to want Your desires. Make them mine. I whisper the verse I’ve hidden in my heart:

“Trust in the LORD…Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart…” (Psalm 37:3-5 NIV).

Catch Up

By Heather Arbuckle  –

One of my favorite movies is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. If you grew up in the 80’s like me, you probably recall the wisdom of our young hero Ferris as he addressed his audience, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!”

Indeed, life seems to be spinning faster these days. A sense of urgency has gripped our world as never before.  In its wake we sometimes feel the necessity to be innovative in our communication methods. It’s tough to catch up with friends in our overscheduled days.

Twitter. Facebook. Texting. No doubt, our modes of communication are changing radically. I confess, up until recently, I was a self-proclaimed Facebook junkie. It was exciting to reconnect with long lost “friends”, convenient to keep up with current acquaintances, and fun to entertain my “peeps” online. However, life isn’t just about entertainment and convenience. Our relationships with fellow believers must be deeper than a Facebook  status update or a “tweet” on Twitter.

Communication is a priority in God’s Kingdom. God has used angels, prophets, the Bible,and His one and only Son to communicate His desires for His children. Likewise, it must be a priority for God’s people to “communicate the hope that is in us” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV) Effective communication begins with time alone with God. It is imperative as God’s children that we learn to sit at His feet and quietly listen each day. As we read His word and meditate on His truth, our minds are renewed and our hearts transformed to be more like Christ. It is only then that we are truly ready to engage a lost and confused world. For it is in communion with our Heavenly Father that we train our heart to encourage and endure.

Likewise, we are challenged to make time to meet with our sisters in Christ face to face. After all, communication is more than words and emoticons. Expressions and tones can be lost in the translation of a text message, leaving us confused about the motives and actions of our loved ones. Without the clarity of open communication, we are likely to be deceived into making assumptions that damage a relationship unnecessarily. In short, we must allow ourselves to be available to those whom God has placed in our circle of influence. God has placed a number of folks in our midst today. Some are there so that they might be influenced. And some are placed there to be an influence. Either way, influence is greatly marginalized when we limit our interactions to social networking.

Today,  make some time to talk…really talk. Accountability and honesty must remain in a free transaction between active participants if we are to truly continue to grow in Christ. We must commit to make ourselves vulnerable with trusted sisters in Christ, who can speak truth with love into our lives when the time is deemed necessary. Otherwise, we are likely to be deceived by our enemy who “prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV).

Let us never become so busy that we forget to check on a friend. May we never become so distracted that we fail to nurture loving friendships. As our methods of communication evolve, we are challenged in this fast-paced world to speak wisely, not in haste but in love. Don’t miss the chance to catch up.

Dominated

By Jennifer Slattery –

Some days I feel like I’m tottering on a fraying rope being pulled in two directions. It’s an emotional tug-of-war and only I can determine the winner. Will I give in to my sinful nature that seeks comfort, pleasure, self-gratification, and the path of least resistance or will I lay it all on the alter in continual surrender.

According to Romans 8:5-8 (NIV), there’s no middle ground. Either I’m sold out 100% for Christ, offering my body as a living sacrifice, or I’m living to please myself.

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.  So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.  For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. 

If I’m not controlled by the Spirit, I’m dominated by my sinful nature and although this sinful nature may appear pleasurable at first, it leads to death—death of relationships, death of ministries, death of marriages. The moment I give into my sinful nature, I wage war on the things of God.

My sinful nature leads to spiritual slavery, deception, and self-destruction, whereas surrender leads to freedom. So why would I ever choose my will over God’s? Perhaps because I deceive myself into believing I can’t do better. Do I not understand the power of Him who lives within me? When Christ died on the cross, He broke the power of sin. When I accepted Him into my life, He came to live inside me. This means I have the strength and power of the victorious, risen Savior living within. Sin—selfishness, greed, irritability, judgmental attitudes, fear, anxiety—has no power over me, unless I allow it to.

Each day I have a choice. Will I allow sin to dominate my thinking or will I surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit. And each day, I will reap the consequences of my choice.

The Restful Life

By Alan Mowbray –

I tend to focus on things that are life enhancing. Part of it is probably personality, but there is a real benefit and purpose behind this: it’s restful.

When life happens, it seems so easy to focus on money woes, car maintenance bills, the broken transmission on the lawnmower, children who have to be told a million times to do something, politics, politicians, the plot line of a favorite TV show, that pain in your shoulder… no. Stop. I have control in this situation.

Why are people who focus on the positive always happy, even in adversity? Are they just happy people? Are they immune to sadness? Are they incapable of taking anything seriously? Hardly. It’s because they don’t focus on the bad. They make a choice to look to positive things. And in doing so, they do not walk alone when dealing with what life hands them. They’re living what I call The Restful Life.

In the Book of Philippians, Paul writes—while in prison mind you—“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies” (Philippians 4:6-9 MESSAGE).

When your situation is at the center of your life, you open yourself up—handing over control to your emotions. Paul learned a better way—let Christ displace worry at the center of your life. He said it was wonderful living a restful life. Where did he learn this? Because Jesus said it, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:23 NKJV).

Jesus Christ is our rest. He encourages us to lay our worries, concerns, burdens, habits, and etc. at His feet. When we have a problem, it’s not time to dwell on it; it’s time to go to God.

Always. Try to make it a habit in your life.

Remember, He is your Savior, your Father and your Helpmeet. Instead of being discouraged, ask for His wisdom. Rather than ruminating on your circumstances, remind yourself of what He has done for you. In the midst of it all, thank Him for His guidance. Once the situation is resolved, don’t forget to give Him the glory and tell others about what He did for you. Always tell someone… their faith will be built up because of your successes in Him.

Here’s Jesus’ words again, this time in the Message translation. I just love this:  “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:23 MESSAGE).

Yeah… living the restful life. That’s my choice.

How ‘bout you?

The Scrambler

By Kathi Woodall  –

Summertime brings outdoor fun as schoolbooks close and amusement parks open. We recently took our two oldest daughters to an amusement park with plenty of thrill rides and good times. They rode “The Scrambler,” a ride with four cars on each of three arms that spin and weave in and out of each other. Just as the earth rotates on its axis as it also revolves around the earth, each group of cars rotates as they also revolve around the central trunk of the ride. My husband and I decided to sit this ride out and waited for them by the exit.

Despite the speed and craziness of their spinning, each time their car spun around so it was facing us, we would make eye contact, smile and sometimes wave. For a brief moment, we would connect and be a stable, non-shifting point in their ride. We were a constant that didn’t change even though their car and every car around them spun wildly.

As I stood there watching and waiting for the next moment when they would face me and our eyes would connect, I thought about how God is a constant reference point for us as we spin around in a crazy world. God doesn’t revolve and rotate like the cars on the ride or the planets in the heavens. Indeed, He created the stars and the planets and set them moving on their paths. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17 NIV).

God’s constancy, absoluteness and stability are displayed in many ways. His unequivocal word will not shift or change. What He has spoken, He will do; what He has promised, He will fulfill (Numbers 23:19). Regardless of how we might be seeing things, God’s covenants will not change and will not be broken (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 7:20-22). The heavens and the earth will wear out and be changed like a piece of clothing but even then God will remain the same (Psalm 102:25-27).

Like the ride my daughters rode, what is spinning in your world right now? In the midst of the in’s and out’s of chaos and craziness, how can you connect with the One who does not change? God’s word, His covenants and His being will not change. Matthew 7 teaches that a wise man builds his life upon these things and finds stability regardless of what swirls around him.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

« Previous Page — Next Page »