Love and the Rubix Cube

By Jarrod Spencer –

The Rubix Cube came out sometime in the 1980s and I was one of millions that had one of those toys. I was also one of the millions who couldn’t solve it “legally” (I would take it apart and put it back together). Turn here—twist there, but I never quite figured it out. I’d get one, maybe two sides right, but getting the other 4-5 sides seemed impossible to solve. Life can be like that. So can love. Brian Cramer says, “Love is like the perfect Rubix Cube. There are countless numbers of wrong twists and turns, but when you get it right, it looks perfect no matter what way you look at it.”

Twist, turn, study, twist, turn, study, intermixed with wrong twists and turns. This is one of many ways to look at life and love. You work on solving a temporary situation and make a couple of adjustments. Then, you notice that on another side there is a jumbled mess of colored squares. So you attempt to solve it again by twisting and turning, trying to get all the sides to correspond to their appropriate color.

As you think about your life right now, how many sides are you getting to match up? Are you twisting and turning with no avail to get the sides to match? As you continue on in life, think about all the twists and turns that come your way. Some may be incorrect, but eventually they will come out where all the colors match up.

Enjoy life and love and look forward to those times when the sides match up!

PRAYER: Father, thank You for watching over me as I may not see what twists and turns I am supposed to make in life. You know how to make the sides match up. Please guide me in making the correct twists and turns as I go about life.

“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long” (Psalm 25:4-5 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Jarrod Spencer. He is a seeker of God’s surprises in everyday life, looking for ways to be used by God with anyone he comes in contact with. He has a passion for encouraging people through the written word and exercises that passion with blogging and sending out a weekly text of encouragement. You can read more of his writings at http://jarrodspencer.blogspot.com and his church’s website is http://www.colbychurch.com.

Trying and Trying Some More

By Carin LeRoy –

Jason was the cutest little guy you ever saw, but he had a real problem in my kindergarten class. He just couldn’t sit still. I’d tell him to get to work, but before long, he’d be squirming out of his seat or disrupting a classmate. I remember his adorable smile as he came in the room each day and said, “Mrs. LeRoy, I love you!” His wiggly nature was not only a problem, but his learning was also hindered by an inability to focus. Nevertheless, he stole my heart that year.

On some days his behavior would become so challenging that I sent him to the principal’s office so the rest of the class could finish their work. As he walked down the hall, I’d hear him plead, “Mrs. LeRoy, I’ll be good. I’ll be good.” But the problem was that Jason couldn’t sit still, as hard as he tried. As much as he wanted to be good, his squirmy make up just wouldn’t let him.

That reminds me of my relationship with God. As hard as I try, I still sin. I’m always messing up. I try to obey God and do the right thing, but my old habits always seem to rear their ugly head. I am reminded of what Paul says: “… I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing,” (Romans 7: 18, 19 NIV). The struggle of sin is ever-present in our lives. We are just like little Jason, trying hard but failing.

Thank goodness for a God who sent His son to earth so that His power can set us free from the law of sin. Just as Jason stole my heart, we captured God’s. He loved us enough to send His son and free us from our bondage to sin. By putting our faith in Him, we now have His power and spirit to help us—giving us power to change and to break free from the habits of sin. I’m glad I serve a great God! Aren’t you?

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for the Son You sent who gives me the power to break free me from habits of sin.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering” (Romans 8: 1-3 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Carin LeRoy, wife to Dale and mother of three grown children and one almost-grown teenager. She has been a missionary with Pioneers since 1982. Her passions are family, missions, piano, and writing to challenge others to live faithful lives for God.

A Tale of Two Faces

By Rhonda Rhea –

I was looking through family pictures the other day. I love oohing and ahing over the pictures of all my kids when they were babies. I did, however, make an interesting observation in several of the shots that included the entire family. When the kids were babies, my husband had a mustache.

And I didn’t.

Woah, not a pretty turn of events, I must say. I wonder if we could make a bad reality show out of it. Something like “Where’s Their Hair Now”? Or even better, how about “Trading Faces”?

If not a reality show, at least a poem. I’ve noticed that traumatic experiences often send writers into bouts of poetry. For some of us, it’s really bad poetry. My proof:

Electrolysis or lasers?
Should I go ahead and tweeze it?
Sugars, waxes, creams or razors?
Should I heat it, blast it, freeze it?

Maybe chemicals will get it,
Gotta look at all the facts.
I can simply wax poetic,
But maybe I should simply wax.

I decided it was time to end the bad poem when I realized there were too many words that rhyme with “pelt” and not enough that rhyme with “weed-whacker.”

All “Extreme Makeover, Face Editions” aside, it’s not a bad thing to stop and think about our spiritual faces. Have you ever met a two-faced person? Have you ever been one? Behaving one way at church, showing a totally different face at home, on the job or at school?

We need to always put our best face forward, as it were. Hypocrisy is one of the Lord’s pet peeves. We’re told in 1 Peter 2:1 to stop all that nonsense. “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (NIV). The New Living phrases it like this, “So get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing.” Anytime we find ourselves acting as pretenders or two-faced back-stabbers we need a makeover in the most extreme way. And on all our collective faces.

Jesus said in Mark 7:6, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:  ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’” (NIV).

It doesn’t even really matter who has the furriest upper lip. Whatever my lip condition, I never want it to be out of sync with my heart. I’ve given my heart to Christ. That means my lips and my mind, my motives and my actions, are all to be His too. And when we have secret places of hypocrisy in our lives, they interfere with our worship. After all, there are no secret places that are hidden from Him. He sees our hearts. Isaiah 66:3 says, “The acts of the hypocrite’s worship are as abominable to God as if they were offered to idols” (AMP).

Enough duplicity. We need to get rid of every two-faced tendency. I want to look forward to meeting Jesus face to face with great eagerness and expectation. Face to face. Not face to face to face.

Rhonda Rhea is a radio personality, conference speaker, humor columnist and author of seven books, including High Heels in High Places and her newest book, Whatsoever Things Are Lovely: Must-Have Accessories for God’s Perfect Peace. You can find out more at www.RhondaRhea.org.

Impossible? Depends Who You Ask

Rosemary Flaaten –

Have you ever felt like God was calling you to do the impossible? You believe He created you and that He knows you more intimately than you know yourself, but you just can’t help but wonder if somehow He got you mixed up with someone else. The job before you is far beyond your natural capabilities, outside your comfort zone or just plain impossible. Why would God ask you to do something that is seemingly unattainable?

I wonder how many people down through history have asked this same question. Did William Wilberforce ever feel that challenging the established slave trade was too daunting? Did Mother Teresa ever feel overwhelmed by the needs surrounding her? The young maiden virgin, given the responsibility to bear the Saviour, asked “But how can this be?” (Luke 1:34). Great callings always seem out of reach.

What has God brought into your line of vision, prompting you to pursue? Is it a new position at work? Is it to take the ministry He has given you to a wider audience? Is it to uproot your family, starting again in a new community with new friends and neighbours? Is it to be still and do less?

The apostle Paul revelled in his inadequacies by claiming that God’s grace is sufficient and that God’s power is made perfect in our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). The second part to this verse gives us a peek into how this happens. “Christ’s power may rest upon me.” This is a similar statement to the angel’s promise to the Virgin Mary: “The power of the Highest [will] hover over you” (Luke 1:35 MSG).

The only way we will accomplish the purpose which God has put on our lives is to have His Spirit “move in on [our] weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 MSG). Having the Spirit hover over us will empower us, emblazon us and propel us.

Rather than focusing on the impossibilities that lie before us, let’s keep God as our focal point, trusting that He not only calls but equips. Just as Peter walked on the water, may we seize the opportunities that God brings, trusting that His Spirit is resting upon us. Then we can say with conviction: With God all things are possible.

PRAYER: Spirit of the Living God may You rest upon me, filling me with courage, strength and an unwavering conviction to follow You wherever You lead.

“For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37 NLT).

Today’s Devotional is by Rosemary Flaaten. Her successful book, A Woman and Her Relationships helps women process their outside-of-work relationships, so now she’s delving into these 9-5 relationships in A Woman and Her Workplace. Her Relationships book won The Word Guild Award, which is Canada’s top Christian literary honor. A dynamic speaker—Rosemary challenges women of all professions to view their work as a calling and their workplaces as opportunities to live out Christ’s love. Rosemary lives with her husband and three children in Calgary, Canada.

I Will Find A Way!

By Nina Medrano –

Do you ever find yourself repeatedly hum a familiar song, absentmindedly, singing only parts of the lyrics that come to mind?  Often, when this happens to me, I am preoccupied and therefore miss the message of the song stirring in my spirit.

It has been three days now that my spirit has been stirring this song in my gut.  Like a scratch on a CD, the same lyric is stuck, repeating itself over and over—unable to skip to the next stanza.

“Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name”

I’m sitting traffic, singing the same lyrics over and over when suddenly the Holy Spirit descends upon me a heaviness of heart for those whose road is marked with suffering and cannot bless His name because of the pain in the offering.

It’s hard to lift your arms in praise when they have grown weary year after year waiting for breakthrough.  It’s hard to praise God when you are losing your home; when your husband did not come home last night; when you can’t pay the electric in the winter; when you cannot afford to get septic; when your teen-age daughter gets diagnosed with pre-cancer cells; when your wife leaves you with three small children to care for; when your First Time Home buyers credit check is delayed—going on a year.

“…When the darkness closes in, Lord
I WILL FIND A WAY… to say…
Blessed be the name of the Lord”

Often, life’s challenges leave a mark in our lives that render us stuck and unable to skip to the next stanza of God’s “streams of abundance flow.”

The power of praise is the weapon that releases God’s power to move on our behalf.  No matter what the circumstance, whether He gives or takes away, whether there is more pain than joy in the offering, we must resolve in our heart to FIND A WAY to bless His name.  With teeth gritting, FIND A WAY!  As if your life depends on it, FIND A WAY to say “Blessed by Your Name” and watch God move like a mighty warrior on your behalf.

^“You are a hiding place for me; You, Lord, preserve me from trouble, You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Selah” (Psalm 32:7 AMP).

Nina Medrano lives in Lubbock TX with Pepper Jack, her rescued Jack Russell Terrier.

Song lyrics from “Blessed Be Your Name,” by Matt Redman.

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