You Put Your Whole Self In…

By Robin J. Steinweg –

“Is this your youngest? He’s so tall! When did he mature so much?”

Startled, I looked at my son through my friend’s eyes. He had grown tall. How had I missed this latest spurt? How long was I not really paying attention? Once I’d had every eyelash, every mole, each dimpled finger memorized; his hairline mapped out; the pitch of his voice was the refrain that wound through my mind like an 8-track loop.

What things had I put my whole self into instead? A novel or a project can capture my focus, so my attention and energy converge to one point. The external world fades. I even forget meals. Most often it’s the pressure of my To-Do list.

Now properly jolted, I reacquainted myself with the features of this young man of mine. I contemplated his choice of words—the things that make him laugh or concern him—listened with care. I saw and jumped on the opportunity to ride with him in the car once a week to his choir and art classes. This had been my free morning; now it was the morning I was free to spend my most precious commodity on him.

Time.

Two captured hours with my son in the car one morning a week until the end of the semester. I’ve been told that I’ve made a sacrifice. Hmm—balance this one on the scales: my son on one hand, a few hours of my time on the other. In terms of sacrifice, I feel as though God has provided the lamb. He has gifted me with an opportunity to “put my whole self in,” as the song goes. My full focus and attention can converge to this one point. The external world can fade. My To-Do list can wait, my son’s maturing won’t.

Seconds expire the same instant they spring up. I’ll put my whole self into these!

QUOTE: “You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.” –James Matthew Barrie

“For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

Deal With the Bunnies!

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Bunnies. Furry, cute, comical—and the terrors of my flower garden.

They set up housekeeping under our aluminum shed and did what bunnies do: eat, sleep and multiply. They decimated my strawberries, devoured my moss roses and poppies, shredded the hostas and nibbled my clematis to the ground. The marigolds I planted to deter them? Eaten.

Natural repellants and even the dog didn’t stop them. We got a safe trap and caught a baby. I watched from the window as Little Peter bloodied his pink nose trying to get to his mama stationed outside the cage. Repentant, I ran out, opened the trap and said, “I give up! Live. Eat.”

I started feeding them along with the birds.

For the next years I experimented with flowers they might not eat, and enclosed my favorites with ugly chicken wire. I complained and ranted from the kitchen: “Nefarious bunnies! How I wish you’d be gone!” I watched them play, scratch their ears and stretch out in the shade.

A few weeks ago I realized I hadn’t seen a bunny in awhile. I went to look, and found telltale hunks of fur strewn about. A hawk? A few days later I saw feathers. That seemed to confirm the hawk theory. But no bunnies appeared. The next week I spotted the cause: two young feral cats skulked on our swing-set, eyeing my feeders. I opened the door and they vanished—under the shed—where my cute furry nefarious bunnies used to snuggle. Now we have a family of not cute, tricksy, sneaky cats living off the fat of my birdfeeders (I don’t dare put seed out now), protected from the weather and soiling our former sandbox. If only we had dealt with the bunnies and filled in the area under the shed in the first place.

It occurs to me that sin can be like this. I have my pet “faults”; not too bad, possibly even pleasant. I may complain about them. But if the Holy Spirit convicts me and I tolerate or even nurture them—don’t allow Him to deal with them—those “innocent” sins are swallowed up and replaced by sneakier, faster, more predatory sins. Deal with the bunnies!

PRAYER: Lord, examine my heart for sins I’ve tolerated as cute, acceptable, or even comical. Help me to deal with them before worse ones move in. Thank You for revealing them, helping and forgiving me.

“Say a quiet yes to God and He’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field” (James 4:8 MSG).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

Gems in the Rummage Heap

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Thrift stores, garage sales, rummage and yard sales—oh joy, oh rapture, their season approaches!  For years I have felt like the Proverbs 31 wife of noble character. She rises while it is yet night (to get to the best sales early) and provides for her family (like-new clothes for my boys, for pennies). She’s not afraid of snow for her household (not when I managed to find warm boots and water-proof mittens in the right sizes). She makes linen garments and sells them (well, at least I repurposed items and sold them at a profit from the scraps and bits I picked up). Her children rise up and call her blessed (“Thanks, Mom!”); her husband also (“Have I told you how much I appreciate all you do to save money?”), and he praises her.

I have combed countless piles of despised, rejected or outgrown cast-offs to find the right style— the perfect size. My car, sans GPS, knows the route to at least ten thrift stores. I’ve recorded the addresses of clean garage sales whose owners have children a year or so older than mine so I could recognize next year’s sale.

Treasure hunting, that’s what it is. Sometimes the items look anything but gem-like. They might need a good cleaning or even a redo. But when I’m through, they are valuable. It takes a sacrifice of time and energy. It takes a practiced eye (or at least a persistent one) to spot them.

My Jesus has such an eye. But He doesn’t choose people who are gems—He makes gems out of the ones He chooses. He has such a loving eye. He calls me His treasured possession. Belonging to Him is what gives me worth. And His sacrifice was not of time or energy, it was His own life-blood.

So I rise up and call Him blessed. I am grateful. He understands what it’s like to be despised and rejected. Praise the Lord! “All my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits…who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion” (Psalm 103:1b-2; 4 NIV).

PRAYER: You found me and rescued me, Jesus. Because of Your incredible love, You lifted me from the rummage heap and made me Your treasured possession. Now You have given me a new song: one of praise for You, my Lord!

“You are the children of the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be His treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 14:1a, 2b NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

Anticipated Event

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Throngs of people leap to their feet, jumping and dancing. They open their mouths and an unbroken roar flows forth. Arms raise skyward, and faces of every pigmentation reflect the excitement. For this occasion, folks have gathered from all over the world. As the opening of the anticipated event draws closer, the shouting magnifies. It rolls like thunder—riotous, pandemonic—like the roar of rushing waters.

Finally a loud command splits the air, and something like a trumpet signals the start. An abrupt, expectant silence quivers in the atmosphere. The Super Bowl is about to begin!

But hold on. This is no stadium. There is no face paint, no hot dogs or soda, and no football team waits to run on the field to the screams of fans.

The crowds drop to their knees; some fall on their faces. The Awaited One appears. This is the King of all kings, the Worthy One. The Lamb who was slain, but who lives forever.

Angels numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand encircle His throne. Countless multitudes wear white robes and hold palm branches in their hands.

“Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him…” (Revelation 1:7, NIV). He is the Alpha and the Omega, who was and who is and who now comes!

I can work up a lather over my favorite team on their biggest day of the year. If I had been at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, you might’ve seen me forget myself enough to wear a cheese hat, jump up and down and shout until my voice quit. If I can get that excited over eleven mortals chasing an oblong ball up and down a playing field, how will I respond when my Lord, the Creator of all, appears for the second time to bring salvation to all who wait for Him?

QUOTE: Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus, or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all? —Bart Millard

“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’ The four living creatures said, ‘Amen,’ and the elders fell down and worshipped” (Revelation 5:13-14 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

Joint Maintenance

By Robin J. Steinweg –

Joint Maintenance—TV, magazines, newspapers, health journals—everywhere I look I see supplements for joint maintenance. Well, I’m here to tell you I tried them and they don’t work; I look around this joint and it’s as much a mess as ever!

If the joint to which I refer is my soul, then the statement above isn’t precisely true. It’s not in the mess it was before Jesus saved me. In my early twenties I opened my heart’s door to Him, and He came in and swept the place clean as a whistle. White spankin’ new. He powered away my sin-stain as far as the East is from the West. The Bible word for it is justification (“just as if” I’d never sinned).

The tricky part is ongoing: maintenance. To keep up the purity Christ initiated in me isn’t possible on my own. It would be like trying to pound a nail into a board with a wet noodle. The Bible word for it is sanctification (being molded into Christ-likeness), and it requires God working in me with my cooperation.

• His Spirit convicts me of wrongdoing. I confess it to Him and ask Him to change me.
• I read His Word, the Bible. He interprets and explains it to me.
• I pray (not just asking for things, but listening to Him). He responds to me and communicates with me.
• I spend time with other growing, maturing Christians. He loves on me and speaks to me through them.
• I praise Him (because He is worthy). He inhabits my praises.
• I obey Him. He makes Himself real to me.

So if I want the joint to stay clean, I have to maintain it. But I need supernatural help. A joint venture or joint ownership requires working together.

Joint Maintenance!

AUTHOR QUOTE: The high-potency formula for the maintenance of this joint is God at work in me + me yielding to God’s work in me.

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20, 21 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Robin J. Steinweg. Robin’s life might be described using the game Twister: the colored dots are all occupied, limbs intertwine (hopefully not to the point of tangling), and you never know which dot the arrow will point to next, but it sure is fun getting there!

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