Hey, can you take a look at me?

A farmer or rancher relies on his barn because it serves a variety of purposes. If he raises livestock, it can house the feed and provide shelter for an occasional animal from his herd. If he is a farmer, he may store his much needed farm implements within it and give shelter to his tractors. It could be it is a 'catch-all' for all the various tools of his trade, but without it those tools would be subject to the weather and loss. We may not fully realize or value the true value of the barn until it is in need of repair!

My sad life's dilapidated, a falling-down barn; build me up again by your Word. (Psalm 119:28)

Reduced to ruin or decay, that old barn is not going to be of much use to the farmer. It could have occurred due to neglect - the owners simply not making any investment into keeping it up. It may be a result of simple age because we all know nothing lasts forever. Or maybe it is just occurs because of a lack of resources - the owners unable to keep it up because their source of income dried up due to a turn of events. Regardless, the building could just stand in total ruin - beyond repair. The most desirable thing for the owner to do is to tear it down. As the dilapidated building stands in that state of ruin or disrepair, it becomes a fire hazard, an entrapment potential, and an eye-sore.

Have you observed the condition of your "barns" lately? I am not speaking of a literal "barn" here - but the condition of your mind, emotions, and spirit. You see, our minds are like big "barns" - housing all kinds of "stuff" we "put away" for future use. Without the proper "maintenance", these "barns" fall into disrepair. Our emotions are like the house that once provided shelter to the many inhabitants - they can be warm and welcoming, or turn cold and scary when left without attentive care. The spirit is where we make connection with God - like the barns of old, it becomes a storehouse of great comfort when times are lean.

The "barns" of our life don't "fall into" disrepair overnight. They are "worn down" by what the "elements of life" throw at them. They stand in need of repair because the investment of time and energy is no longer made to "keep them up". They no longer seem to serve us well - simply because we have neglected them so long! The only hope for "repair" is outside of our control - so we need to go to God with the request: "Build me up again!" There is a state of mind, a condition of our soul, and a desperation in our spirit that makes God the only hope for our "repair". In Christian circles, we call this being "restored" - being brought back to useful / productive condition. Our only hope for restoration is if God does the work. How does God choose to do this work of restoration? It is through the skillful application of his Word. The Word is the source of all we need to go from a place of dilapidation in mind, emotions, or spirit, into a place of restored usefulness.

We often don't know the condition of our "barns" because we don't stand back long enough to see them through the eyes of another. This is why God gives us accountability partners in life - people who help us see the true condition of our "barns". We are too close to our "barns" every day. Those that pass by or through our lives, observing it from "outside", have the "bird's eye view" of the place. They see the missing shingles, the blown off roofing tin, the leaning beams, and the cracked seams in the mortar. Maybe it is time for a full "inspection" of our barns! In order to recognize the need for repair, we often need the insight of another set of eyes! Just sayin!

Do you 'member?

The moment we want something so desperately that we seek it with all our effort - that is the moment of change. It may be we want a drink of water, cooled with lots of ice on a hot sunny day. We even want it so bad we'd crack ice cubes from an old fashioned ice cube tray! We change our position from just 'wanting' something to doing something to obtain it! There are times when all we need is to get up again - because the change we so desperately need is not found where we are, but in rising from that place!

I'm feeling terrible—I couldn't feel worse! Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember? When I told my story, you responded; train me well in your deep wisdom. Help me understand these things inside and out so I can ponder your miracle-wonders.  (Psalm 119:25-27)

True enough, the the cold, hard truth that we are miserable at times and we just need to get honest about where we are! Have you ever been this honest with God? Really just getting down to the nitty-gritty with him in all honesty - telling him like it is. It is probably one of the hardest things for some of us to actually do. We try to paint a rosy picture many times, instead of being as forthright as David finds himself being in this passage. David lays it all out there - "I'm feeling terrible! I couldn't feel worse!" Let me tell you, David struggled with some pretty severe depression from what I can see recorded throughout his life - something many of us struggle with, too!

He connects with God exactly where he is "at" - his feelings don't match what he wants to be doing! He wants to be "up on his feet again" - feeling his oats - but his condition (feelings) betray his true condition of heart, soul, and spirit. He is miserable - and his feelings of misery are coloring the way he sees life at that very moment. Thank goodness for this example - by studying what he did with his "feelings", we can learn what we are supposed to "do" with ours when they creep in on us, too. We are to bring them to the one that actually created them! God made us this way, with all these emotions, so it stands to reason that he is the one that can help us get to a place of "standing strong" in those emotions once again!

Depression "gets us down" - we "feel" like we are under a load of bricks and we just cannot possibly get out from under them. Try as we might, the 'change' we need is just harder than we ever anticipated! This kind of "misery" or "despair" is best left to the expert - God! It is likely time we let our misery out before God. Do not keep it bottled up, shoved into denial, or covered over with a false "mask" of "I'm okay". This is the beginning of hope for those in depression - getting it out in the open. When we can finally begin to talk about what we are experiencing - that "ton of bricks" burden that is weighing us down - we can begin to connect with hope.

It isn't wrong for us to remind God of his promises. We may know God's promises - having studied them, incorporating them into our lives one by one. In our times of despair, we can recount them to the one who made them to us in the first place! It isn't that God needs reminding, but rather that we do! Most of the time, we want to understand what gets us into the place of misery. We need to ask God to help us not only understand the things that will bring us out of his despair, but what it is that can keep us out of it in the first place! No amount of "self-help" will get us to the place of recognizing the root of our misery - that is a job best left to God. He delights in showing us the "path" that got us into the pit because he didn't create us to "dwell" in the pit! This seems way too simple of a 'fix' to one buried under a load of depression, but I can tell you this - the bricks in that pile are removed one at a time. The master brick-layer is God - he has a use for each "BRICK" in our pile - even the ones we put there by mistake. As we allow him to remove those weighty bricks of despair, misery, and depression, he will make something more beautiful from them than we might possibly imagine. In my own times of depression, I have found this to be true. God can make beauty from what I see as nothing more than ugliness! It is in the one who "handles" the bricks that the beauty is evident! Just sayin!

Yum....

Do you mull things over, finding yourself deep in thought, unaware of everything else at the moment because this one thing is your focus? If you are one who turns things over and over until you get a better understanding of the object you are considering, then you are one who mulls or ponders. To ponder means that you consider something deeply and thoroughly. It involves the mind, but it also relies on the involvement of the emotions in the process. It comes from a Latin word that means to "weigh". Some of us might say that we are "reflecting" on an idea - we are simply pondering that idea (weighing the pros and cons). I find I do a great deal of pondering or mulling in the wee hours of the night when I am awakened. My mind begins to work on ideas or issues - some evading both my attention and the 'fix' all day long. In those moments alone in thought, am I really alone? I don't think so - because God is with me in those wee hours!

I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you've done it. I relish everything you've told me of life, I won't forget a word of it. (Psalm 119:15-16)

God's wisdom is to be pondered over and over again - that which comes from his Word is given to be considered and reconsidered time and time again. We must learn to "put to the test" the ideas we have running through our minds, those things that are affecting our emotions, by "weighing" them against God's Word. There is no better "scale" to measure our ideas against! Part of pondering is the idea of directing our attention toward whatever it is we are considering. There is focus - not just haphazard consideration - but determined attention toward the object of our reflection. Are we really committed to "using" the counsel God gives to make decisions about our life? Is it more important to us to  "use" what God gives than to have all the riches in the world? If so, then we are likely going to reflect upon the Word more and more!

What is the respect we have for the counsel of God? Is it a standard by which we "ponder" on life's decisions? The Word must become the standard by which we make decisions. It is the process of "pondering" that actually brings us to a place where we "learn" the Word. This allows us to have the Word available when we need it - not forgetting it. God's Word is not taken into our minds in huge quantities. It is pondered in small "morsels". A morsel is a small bit - some call it a tidbit. It is like a bite-sized candy bar - just enough to give you a taste, but not enough to send you into a diabetic coma! God's Word is "bite-sized" - specifically so we can take it in and actually 'use' what we take in. We take it in one morsel at a time - pondering the morsel until we find deep satisfaction in it. That is how it begins to be something we come to relish.

When we relish something, we have developed a "taste" for it. Many don't have a well-developed "taste" for God's Word. Perhaps this is because when it is mixed with so many other things we "take in" right along with it, we don't get a full appreciation of the "taste"! I like coffee. My sister likes honey in hers. I like a little creamer and sweetener in my coffee. We have each developed a different "taste" for our coffee. Does the coffee change? No, just our appreciation for the taste of that which is produced by either the focus on the coffee or the additives! We need to develop the ability to ponder. Pondering is not easy because we have so many distractions in our days. When we develop our habits of "intake", is it to consume or to appreciate what we consume. We often consume in quantities that are not easily digested - God desires that we take his Word in bite-sized morsels. In the morsels, we develop a "taste" for his Word - an appreciation of the hidden truths deep within. So, ponder with me today. Enjoy the morsels God gives. Develop a taste for the good things God reveals in his Word. Great delight is found not in the consuming of the Word, but in the pondering of its taste! Just sayin!

Kept and Helped

Does anyone other than me ever feel like they were chosen to just keep making the same mistakes? Keep doing the same old stuff you'd promised yourself you'd not do again? Keep tripping up on the same things you tripped up on before? I think we all go through these cycles in life - doing well for a while and then 'tripping up' on something we didn't think could trip us up again. We have to remember these things are not experienced by us alone - there are hundreds, if not thousands of others who trip up at just about the same point! Obedience is really a series of trips and rising again!

Keep me far from every wrong; help me, undeserving as I am, to obey your laws, for I have chosen to do right. (Psalm 119:30 TLB)

We forget about the 'rising again' part of this! We are chosen to do right, not wrong. That doesn't negate our free-will (our ability to make a choice). Sometimes our choices just get the best of us! We aren't really deserving of God's grace, but it is ours nonetheless - chosen by him to live obedient and trusting lives in his presence. We sometimes forget our position in Christ - focusing more on our downward fall than on our upward climb back into his arms. Fortunately, at the same time we are climbing back into them, he is openly embracing us within those arms!

King David didn't have his life all together, either. He didn't avoid the occasionally 'fall' or 'stumble'. In fact, scripture is riddled with examples of his 'wrong choices'. It isn't to point out his faults as much as to show us he always found a pair of waiting arms and the grace he found there was sufficient to restore him each and every time. His please is to be kept and helped. He cannot keep himself from falling - he needs God's help. We find ourselves in the same predicament. We cannot (or will not) keep ourselves from falling - we need God's help to avoid hitting bottom!

We are just not strong enough to be all the things we are supposed to be in this lifetime. We don't have all this walk figured out to the nth-degree. We might think we have a good handle on things until something comes that reveals our weakness. At that moment, we can count on the fact he is more than we need to learn obedience in that situation. We might not resist perfectly - but when we are in danger of falling is not the only time we should be asking for his keeping power and grace to learn obedience! We should be crawling into those arms often enough when we are making right choices - not just when we are making the wrong ones! When we learn to do this, we will learn what it is to be "kept" and "helped" in an amazing way! Just sayin!

What are you banking on?

Have you ever thought of your heart as a vault of sorts? It is more like a vault than anything else, because we oftentimes hide things away there forever and ever - our special treasures and sometimes our 'special non-treasures' that we might not really want to let go of! Look at what God's Word does when it enters our hearts. I think we often don't give credit to God for the work he does in the "changing" of our hearts - through his Word and times with him. We sometimes just think he is "mending" our hearts, but as you soon come to realize, simple mending by anyone other than a skilled surgeon leaves us leaking! He replaces those hard hearts with pliable ones, diseased with healthy, and empties those that need a little 'cleaning out' in order to be whole.

I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin myself bankrupt.  (Psalm 119:11)

Today I might focus on the importance of allowing the Word to affect our heart (mind, will and emotions), as a guide for our steps, an owner's manual of sorts. I could on how our hearts are like a piggy-bank, since we are to "deposit" the Word in our hearts in much the same manner as we would our pennies into a bank. If I used that image of our hearts, you'd get the impression that the Word is something that we need to "put into" our hearts - allowing it to multiply until we see the "yield" on the investment. If we see our hearts as an image of an empty vault it gives us the impression that a heart without God's Word tucked inside is simply a vault without content - a place to hold something of great value, but not filled!

All are suggestive of exactly what God expects for his Word to do within each of us. Yet, those illustrations did not catch my eye as much as one of a heart mended that had once been torn, worn, and left rejected. Getting the Word "into" our hearts is easy - allowing it to "heal" or "affect" our hearts is another. It is much the same as with the foods we take into our bodies - we can stuff ourselves full of food, but some of it has more nutritional value than others. Why is that? Simply because it is something our body needs at that moment in time. Our bodies have a unique way of using what they need and then laying up stores of resources for later use, discarding what they cannot use at all.

The Word of God is that way - it can be taken into our minds (hearts) in huge quantities, and then one little thing will begin to work on our hearts. That "little thing" is more powerful than a double-edged sword. It begins to do the work of the skilled surgeon! The result is health in our mind and emotions. What makes the difference is the "skill" of the one who is "working the Word" into our hearts. Try as we might, we are unable to be our own "surgeons" when it comes to healing our emotions. We need the skill of our Lord to accomplish that feat! The "stores" of God's Word accomplish a great deal in our lives. God starts with the preparation of the heart - so it will be able to contain what is taken in, using it to accomplish the work the Word is intended to do, and then holding it up in reserve for those times when we will need it again and again. God is the one that mends (heals) the heart - mind, will, and emotions. His skillful touches don't leave our hearts "leaking". Instead, they leave us feeling like we have "new" hearts!

God is skillful in his timing - he brings to light his Word in just the right time! He is like the surgeon calling for each instrument in the operating room in just the right order. One instrument accomplishes the task that will lead to the next, until the finished product is a healed heart. His work is consistent - he doesn't stop short of healing! All we could possibly do in our own efforts to mend the disappointments of our past is just that - a mending job. Some of our hearts look like patchwork quilts! Here a mend, there a mend, everywhere a mend, mend, mend. God is not in the work of mending - he is in the work of making new! I've seen this in so many ways in my own life. I went through divorce - laying up years of resentment and bitterness over the many disappointments of my marriage. He did the work of taking his Word into the recesses of my mind, will and emotions (my heart). In turn, those resentments were cut away, that bitterness was cauterized so it could bleed no more. In the end, the work of the Word in his hand brought newness - no more "leaking" heart here! I faced medical diagnoses that almost crippled me with fear. His Word challenged my heart to beat harder for him than ever before. Peace invaded my mind, overcame my shaky emotions, and let me pass through those times with grace and peace.

His Word - hid in our hearts - is a very precious gift. His Word - skillfully applied by the guidance of his hand - is a healing touch. His Word - laid up by regular intake - is a reserve for times when leanness would threaten to wreak havoc in our emotions. His Word - powerful provision! His Word - purposeful protection! Don't "bankrupt" yourself! Get it in; allow it to be used by him to bring about healing! Just sayin!

Hey, listen up!

We can become quite 'selective' in our hearing. Guess what? That might just make us a little too 'selective' in our "hearting", as well! Our heart may be less than responsive at times - a little to calloused for anyone or anything to actually break through. When this happens, it is time to get alone with God, spend some 'quality time' allowing him to renew that heart through the Word and times of worship! The most amazing thing about God's method of "dealing with us" is his ability to get right at the heart of the matter - what it is we need to have dealt with at that very moment! He certainly does not beat around the bush when it comes to "focusing" on an area of "opportunity" in my life, but I don't always pay attention to those areas he is trying to focus on. God does not mince his words - in turn, we can learn the right way of living that is reliable (trustworthy) and then walk in it - but to have our heart affected, our hearing has to be tuned up and tuned in.

I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I'm going to do what you tell me to do; don't ever walk off and leave me. (Psalm 119:7-8)

If you have children, or grandchildren, you probably have had at least one opportunity to point out to them the path they are taking as maybe not the best. Maybe it was in the choice of a friend they were making, or the lack of progress they made with their scholastic accomplishments this semester. They may have made unwise choices in how they interacted with each other when they didn't get their way. Whatever the "opportunity" for improvement might have been, you had one thing in mind by "pointing out" that opportunity - it is time for them to embrace change! Your sharing was meant to open their eyes to the fact change was needed.

God uses much the same method with us - he points out the opportunities for improvement, then expects us to embrace the change! God speaks straight from the heart! The question I pose this morning is: With what "ears" are we listening to what he says? I put "ears" in quotations because I think we have some differing "tactics" for "listening" that we use on occasion. For example, when our least favorite part of our television shows are blaring, we hit the TV remote "mute" button, or have learned to 'turn a deaf ear' to them. We "began" to hear what was advertised, got annoyed with hearing about the same product for the 50th time in the two hour movie, and "muted" the volume in our brains. We are being "selective" in our hearing!

Whenever we use the "mute" mode in our hearing process, we are essentially making a judgment of the worth of what we are hearing spoken. This may work well for us when "shutting out" the commercials during our movie, but it does not work so well when it comes to "selecting" what it is we will listen to when God speak into our lives! We often don't "want" to hear what God is speaking - but the lesson in the hearing is in the receiving of the message. To receive, one has to be actively engaged! There is not "selective muting" with God! He hears all we speak - knows all we think - and his "remote" does not have a "mute"! So, don't we owe him the same respect? Some of us hear what we want to hear! We run the "ingredients" of God's message through the filter of our mind, emotions, and/or experience. The message takes on a whole different "look and feel" when this occurs. What came from God's heart as something as pure as water gets "colored" by our perceptions, emotional state, and/or past experiences.

If we want to be "connected" to the heart of God, we need to learn to hear what his heart is speaking. Filters need to be removed - muted messages need to be avoided. We need to be straight with God and he will be straight with us. It is in the true "engagement" of our heart in the listening process that we realize the intention of his heart toward us. So, listen well; listen actively; and listen in order to truly hear! God's is just itching for that kind of attention to his heart's message! Just sayin!

It is not the cards we are dealt...

Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well. (Josh Billings) I once told a peer we all just needed to play with the cards we were dealt. We were going through a tough transition, restructuring all of our work, parceling out various components of what we once had done to others in completely different departments. Our duties were changing and it was difficult to adjust. Yet, the cards were dealt - we held them now. It was now our responsibility to play those cards well. I play Euchre and I have been dealt some pretty lousy hands. Yet, if you understand when the right time to play those lousy cards is, you can still manage to help your partner score some points. It is more about 'being in the game' than it is the cards we are being dealt. We stay in the game, knowing we will have advantageous moments when the cards we hold can be played well!

You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me. (Psalm 119:7 MSG)

It is easy to complain about the hand we have been dealt, is it not? A lot easier than trying to figure out how to play those 'lousy cards'. It isn't about the cards as much as it is about the one holding them! I am not talking about Euchre here, but about real life. We don't have to play those cards on our own. I didn't learn Euchre from a book. I learned it by watching others who play it very well! When we want to do nothing more than throw in our cards in life and just give up, are we discounting the value of even a 'lousy hand'? Probably! In Euchre, there are cards that 'trump' other cards. You call your 'trump suit' before you begin the round of play. It is possible for a player to possess zero trump cards - making it very, very hard to score any books in the game. Yet, you play with a partner and you can help them make a few!

All of life is about the road we travel and how well we travel it. We can walk steadily on the path opening up before us, or we can blaze our own path. We can see on as 'too hard' or 'too boring' for us, choosing another that will be easy-peasy or a little more exciting. If I were to ask some of you how that has been working for you, there might be a little bit of complaining about the path. We forget it was not the path that really mattered, but how well we walked it and with whom that walk was undertaken. The path is important. The more important thing is that we remember who we are 'partnered with' in walking it! As long as we just see the impossibilities of a situation, we will never want to use it to our advantage! Even the worst of circumstances can produce something of value in our lives. Just sayin!

Hello....you out there?

So seek God and live! You don't want to end up with nothing to show for your life but a pile of ashes, a house burned to the ground. For God will send just such a fire, and the firefighters will show up too late. (Amos 5:6)

Ever find yourself in a place where it feels like everything around you is 'on fire' and you are somehow trying to put out all the fires at once? I think we occasionally find ourselves in these times of wearing and quite frustrating 'firefighting'. Most of us can put out a small fire, but those bigger ones require the expertise of the firefighter specifically trained in the task! Amos was one of the twelve minor prophets of Israel. He finds himself leading a group of people who had little time for God and lots of time for their good life. The armies of Assyria (one of their fiercest rivals) were battling for bigger territory and Israel was allowed to live almost without warfare during that time, enjoying the expansion of their own territory without the need for battle. Although the nation was prospering and expanding, their heart for God was not so expansive. There are times when we enjoy 'prosperity' and 'goodness', almost forgetting about who it is that blesses us with such good things.

Values are often determined by the circumstances we find ourselves in. When Israel was "down on its luck" with armies battling them on every side, they sought God, listened to the prophets and wanted to be engaged in worship. When they seemed to be living carefree, they had little need for God in their lives. Their values were allowed to be shaped by the prosperity they enjoyed - oftentimes focusing on their own gain, and leaving the poor or sick to fend for themselves. Amos comes with a tough message - either they wake up to their drifting away from God, or face his coming judgment! He was bringing a message that the 'fire' was coming - they better be prepared. God gives us these warnings when we need them in our lives and if we heed them quickly, the fires will not get out of hand. If we ignore them, there is no telling how big the fires will get before they are under control!

It is a hard one to deliver, but probably even harder to listen to when you find yourself enjoying great times and then being brought to the realization you just might have left God out of the equation! Here's the cold, hard facts - God makes no differentiation when it comes to sin. Either you are guilty of sin or not. The fact that you are a child of God when you sin is just as significant as when a total unbeliever sins. The only difference is that we recognize that we have someone to run to with our sin, whereas the unbeliever is just left dealing with the outcome of their sin. With each period of compromise in our lives, compromise gets easier and it gets bigger! It is like we are lending fuel to the fire. Thank goodness that God gives us messengers of his grace! We may not get a "prophet" to show up on our doorstep, but we do experience the grace of his message! It may be in hearing the Word of Truth through another believer, or a convicting thought comes to mind through the action of the Holy Spirit within, but we get the message!

Our position as God's chosen and loved does not make us exempt from his position on sin, nor on the potential for sin in our lives! We have a responsibility to live right! When we don't - God reminds us of our responsibility! Plain and simple. God's Word measures us to make sure we stay on the "plumb" with God. When we are getting a little "out of plumb", his Word has a way of bringing us back into plumb. That is why God sent the prophets of the Old Testament - to act as a plumbline to bring his people "back to plumb" with him. It may be time to begin to consider the condition of our hearts. We might find that we are "melting away" without really seeing that we are - so busy fighting fires that we don't see all the fuel we have been giving them. Before we find nothing but a pile of ashes to remind us of what we once enjoyed, wouldn't it be better to "adjust our plumb" now? Just askin!

Dogeared Pages

Most kids today don't have a clue what a Sears or J.C. Penney's catalog looked like. They have immediate shopping options via the World Wide Web, making these bound 'manuals of dreams' a thing of the past. When we got the latest version of the catalog, we'd pour through it over and over again, admiring the latest fashions, dreaming about the shiny appliances promising to make our life easier, and finding out just how 'empty' our toy boxes were in comparison to what was displayed within those pages. If it wasn't in the catalog, you never knew it existed. The catalog was the place you turned when you were in need of something. Yet, it wasn't 'complete', was it? You couldn't buy your groceries through the Sears catalog, nor could you buy a horse, cow, or goat (at least I don't think you could). As "complete" as that catalog was, it didn't contain all we needed. It just made it convenient to find basic things. The more complex things often required us to look further and in different places. Wouldn't it have been nice to have a true 'one-stop' experience with all we were in need of right there at our fingertips? "IN CHRIST" we have everything we need - no further away than the welcoming words, "Come, Lord Jesus".

For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power. (Colossians 2:9-10 TLB)

There are moments when we all look elsewhere for whatever it is we need in life. We seek love through some form of human contact. We look for meaning in life through some career pathway. We dream of fulfillment through some 'purchased product'. All these might be worthwhile pursuits when we have made Christ the first pursuit of our lives. When these pursuits become the primary pursuit, Christ taking backseat in our lives, we find it is a little like flipping through all those pages in the catalog - there are a whole lot more unfulfilled dreams than there are fulfilled ones! There are even things we will never be able to obtain through 'pursuit' as they are gifts and not something we can 'achieve' or 'obtain'. If we are honest here, we might even say we have found ourselves 'having', but not really 'enjoying'. We have 'obtained' lots and lots of things and have not even taken the time to 'enjoy' them fully. How much more can we say we have been 'given much' in Christ Jesus that we have never even experienced yet?

It is hard to come to the place of turning away from what we have fixed our attention toward for so long, but as with the catalog, we sometimes need to just put those things down and look around at what it is we already have! We might not 'have' all our mind can conceive, but what we do have far outweighs whatever it is that is attracting our attention at the moment. IN CHRIST, we have ALL of God in a human form - we have EVERYTHING when we have Christ. Those words are powerful because they tell us it isn't about us 'getting more' - it is about us learning to live with what we have been given! To enjoy fully the things we now possess IN CHRIST and learn how to appreciate what a privileged position we have in him. Christ fills the pages of our lives - he isn't found in the pages of a dogeared catalog. Yet, there is much we will desire more and more of as we experience him fully. We will find it isn't long before he 'marks' his place in our lives much like we marked those pages in the 'wish book' catalog. We are given more than we could ever pursue - so why do we spend so much time and effort on pursuits that are fleeting? Just askin!

Too many lids?

It may seem like a small thing, but yesterday I emptied the dreaded 'lid drawer' of all those plastic lids to the various size containers I have in another drawer. Then I pulled out those containers and guess what I did next....I matched them up! Lid with container until all were matched. Then I found what I had suspected all along....many a lid remained with no matching container. Why? Perhaps the container had found another use such as it being a holder of items in a storage drawer, or it just simply got yucky looking and was discarded. I was left with 10 or more lids with no 'mate'. No wonder that drawer was frustrating me! I then sorted through the containers until I found the best to keep and made up a box to take to the local thrift store. Know what? I finally can find a lid to match my remaining containers! Once the 'clutter' was gone, it was easy to do! There are just times when we need to take time to 'declutter' our lives a little. Not just the junk drawers in the kitchen, but the inner emotions that have an effect on our outward actions!

So get rid of all that is wrong in your life, both inside and outside, and humbly be glad for the wonderful message we have received, for it is able to save our souls as it takes hold of our hearts. (James 1:21 TLB)

There are a lot of us who allow too much 'clutter' in our emotions. We hold onto stuff that we know very well holds no purpose in our lives, and we find ourselves kind of 'sorting through' all the clutter most of the time. We cannot really do much until we finally allow for the stuff to just get put in order, though! Just like the lids and containers in my kitchen, the emotions that clutter our lives are likely not of much benefit to us. They are only creating a whole lot of extra work! They get in the way of getting at what we really want to say, how we should respond, or what we really need to be feeling in the first place. How do we know it is time to declutter our emotions. There are times that we find the emotion doesn't 'match' the issue - just like the lids not matching the containers in my kitchen. There are lots emotions, but the issue is just not 'matching up' to the emotions being displayed. Whenever we see this 'mismatch' occur, it is likely time to take time alone with God to allow a decluttering to occur!

You might think there is no 'mismatch' going on in your life, but most of us have a 'lid or two' hanging around inside our emotional 'lid drawer' that needs to be sent packing. It serves no purpose and only gets in the way of what we should really be focusing on anyway. When we ask for God's help to 'declutter' our emotions and memories, we find he does a very thorough job to all the 'drawers' we give him access to. If we hold back a 'drawer or two', we might benefit from the 'clean up' of the ones he declutters, but we will still not have freedom from the 'total clutter' in our emotions. Those 'off-limits' drawers in our emotions are not benefiting us! They are creating chaos and frustration - so why not give him access and be free of the clutter? Just askin!

Live in to live out

We might attempt to define obedience by the things we do instead of some other things. For example, we define it as obedient to drive the speed limit vs. careening down the highway as whatever break-neck speed we may feel like that day. We 'do' observe the limit, then we 'keep' our foot from pressing too firmly on the gas peddle, and we 'stay attentive' to the dial on the dashboard. All this to 'do' just one thing - drive the speed limit. Yes, obedience has to do with 'doing' and 'not doing' - it is making choices and living within those choices. It also has a whole lot to do with 'being', as well. We are 'being' renewed day by day - in the love and grace of God. That 'being' actually helps us with the 'doing'. We sometimes get that backwards, though - trying to 'do' in order to 'be', but God's plan is just the opposite!

When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love. (John 15:10 TLB)

Michelangelo once said he 'lived and loved in God's peculiar light'. I think this is so true for each of us. We experience God's light in various ways, in certain seasons, and it seems so very new and fresh to us. The room you are in right now looks very different at dusk, dawn, or the fullness of midday sun. The colors you see in the yard at night are not as vibrant as those you observe as the full day dawns. Light has a way of changing things - changing our surroundings, but also changing how we see things within those surroundings. Just as it has a way of changing things in our surroundings, it can change us within, making what we 'do' begin to change, as well. What is happening is that God's light is doing the work of creating newness withing until the actions that spring forth in our 'doing' is quite evident his love dwells within.

Obedience begins by 'living in' God's love and light. It isn't about us 'doing' anything - it is all about us 'being' in the right relationship so that we can be changed inwardly until it affects our outward 'doing'. Obedience is merely an evidence of living in the light! It is evidence we are 'in God's love' and his love is within us! Obedience doesn't have to be cumbersome. It might not come quickly, as with the dawn of light in the morning sky, but when it comes - wow! It brings vibrancy into our lives like nothing else does. We don't 'make light' - just like we don't 'make obedience' come forth from our lives. Obedience is a result of the light - light given, light absorbed, and light illuminated! Just sayin!

Who, not what

"Aah...this is the GOOD life!" We are perhaps kicking back on the beach, enjoying the rays, listening to the palm fronds rattling in the wind, and then we utter these words of absolute contentment! The next thing you know, a gust of wind blows away your umbrella, a happy-go-lucky child throws sand on you, and the sun drifts behind the clouds! What happened to your "contentment" in that moment? Ummm....honestly....it was no longer the "good life"! The days of good old conversation and peaceful repose with an aging parent turn into helping them make daily decisions, take their showers, and ensuring their safety at every turn. Yep, the 'good life' is kind of missed in those moments, isn't it? There are lots of things that change our 'good life' concept - from sudden gusts of wind to changing needs of those around us. When the 'good life' morphs, are we ready?

Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I'm still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a "good" life. No matter how many days he lives, they'll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow—because he doesn't fear God. (Ecclesiastes 8:12-13)

Our impression of what a "good life" really is can oftentimes be the issue, not the 'events' of life itself. We get our focus a little misdirected at times - giving us a warped perception of reality. You see, the wind was always there, the clouds were passing over as we uttered those words of contentment, and the child had been working on that sand castle for hours! The parent was aging all along, getting weaker each day, and hidden disease was always at work. We just failed to see what was right before our eyes! Perception often determines reality in our minds! A lifestyle of sin is easily observed when it is pitted against a lifestyle of reverence for God. The "good life" is really based on something entirely different than we often imagine. In fact, rarely do I hear anyone describe the good life as serving God first, being less focused on self, and being an obedient steward of the grace God has given in their life! Yet, it is not what we "get by with" in life that makes life great - it is in the fact that we get "nearer" to God that makes it truly great! In fact, a life without God is "colorless as a shadow" and "flat"!

It takes the sun to cast a shadow! The more "face-on" you are to the sun, the longer your shadow. Let me make this clear - the more face-on you are to the Son of God (Jesus), the longer the shadow his grace will cast in your life! You begin to reflect his greatness in your life! It takes the light to realize the "color" in our world. In the darkness, color is really meaningless. You can be standing smack-dab in the middle of a room filled with vividly painted walls, richly adorned furnishings in dynamic colors of the rainbow, but without the light in the room, those colors mean nothing! It takes the "Light of Life" (Christ) to fill our days with color. We may "think" we get by with stuff (not always good stuff either), perhaps hundred of times, but nothing escapes God's view. Even though we don't "get caught" in our sin, he knows it is still there. There is nothing we can hide from him. Want color and light in your life - get honest with God and then enjoy the Son-shine! Don't let the stuff that is right there in front of your eyes to escape your view, or your appreciation! The good life is more about 'who' is in our lives, not 'what' is in it! Just sayin!

So, what's your response?

"Christlike communications are expressions of affection and not anger, truth and not fabrication, compassion and not contention, respect and not ridicule, counsel and not criticism, correction and not condemnation. They are spoken with clarity and not with confusion. They may be tender or they may be tough, but they must always be tempered." (L. Lionel Kendrick) Very good instruction from Mr. Kendrick, is it not? I think he was not only reminding us of the necessity of correction, but of the equal necessity of kindness and grace in the midst of it!

If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it— how shortsighted to refuse correction!
(Proverbs 12:1)

I have a mind that works almost all the time - finding myself awake in the night hours mulling over ideas, creating "fixes" to something that is need of my attention at work or at home, or even working out the solution to a word puzzle that has been 'holding me captive'. I have had friends ask me if I ever just 'shut-off' and chill. I guess that I'd have to say that I do, but it is just like taking a dimmer switch and turning down the "intensity" a little rather than a complete 'shut down' of my mind! There is a little "test" we sometimes go through to be able to tell if we really love being a disciple of Christ. It is the test that really sees if we love learning? The idea is that their will be 'evidence' in our lives that we do love learning.

Never forget that to love learning one must love the discipline and correction that goes with it! Our commitment to being a disciple of Christ is most often revealed in the attitude we take toward correction. Isn't it just like Jesus to go "meddling a little" in our minds and hearts until he really helps us see where it is we need the most help? Jesus wants us to equate his discipline (correction) with his love. God's discipline embraces us - it never drives us away. His discipline guides us - it does not make unrealistic demands of us. His discipline is meant for correction - not to diminish us or release his anger in outbursts of emotion.

The discipline of discipleship begins with a change of mindset and heart-set. As we begin to step out in obedient trust, we begin to realize that God intends for "good" to be the outcome of our steps. We begin to encounter things in our past that affect the way we think and act in our present. We call this "awareness". We begin to sense that the "old way" of responding, the "practiced" way of responding, to things that life sends our way may not always be the desired way to handle them. The tendency to get caught up in office gossip may be an alluring part of our past. As we begin to grow in Christ, that tendency to gossip brings with it a little "twinge" of guilt (a feeling that something is not quite right). The more we spend time with Jesus, the more we become aware that this "habit" of our past is not to be the "pattern" of our present.

Our mind is being challenged to think differently and our heart is being softened by the presence of the Spirit of God within us. As this occurs, we begin to associate the "twinges of guilt" with loving urges to not engage in those things that God declares to be sinful, unwise for our lives, or simply just not wholesome. As our love for Jesus' best in our lives grows, so does our desire to respond to his corrective leading. If you really want to "test" if you are growing in Christ, you simply have to look at how you are responding to his correction! Just sayin!

Yes, God knows...

It was Ann Landers who reminded us,"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them." While we are faced with opportunities all day long, how many do we actually 'act upon'? Truth be told, we probably overlook, or miss more than we know we do take some action toward engaging in. We are just not 'tuned into' them as we should be - making it quite easy to overlook them. The moment someone needed that touch of assurance, we were distracted and let it go by. That time a tear was about to escape the corner of a friend's eye, contemplating the loss of a member of their family, and you just were oblivious to their internal pain. We've all been there - seeing, but not really seeing! It is indeed hard work to seize every opportunity - acting upon what we see can even be a little bit uncomfortable for us, or a little awkward at times - but if we don't, who will?

So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that might otherwise seem less important. This makes for happiness among the parts, so that the parts have the same care for each other that they do for themselves. If one part suffers, all parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. Now here is what I am trying to say: All of you together are the one body of Christ, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it. (I Corinthians 12:24-27)

Don't neglect the 'parts' God has placed right there in your path - you never know if you will get another opportunity to engage with them again! I will be the first to admit that 'tuning in' is hard work. It requires we stop what we are doing long enough to notice things around us. I see the tiny weeds beginning to take over the garden not so much when they are still just one or two leaved sprigs, but when they converge upon the things I have actually planted there! The small stuff can escape our view for a long, long time, but know this - small stuff grows into bigger stuff! Take care of things while they are small and it might just prevent a whole lot of 'bigger work' in the long run!

The Christian group For King and Country sings a song I really love. The song is "God only knows". If you know the lyrics, you might just have a window into my soul right now! The words? Well, let them minister to you as they do to me each time I hear them:

Wide awake while the world is sound asleepin'

Too afraid of what might show up while you're dreamin'

Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you

Nobody, nobody would believe you

Every day you try to pick up all the pieces

All the memories, they somehow never leave you

Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you

Nobody, nobody would believe you

God only knows what you've been through

God only knows what they say about you

God only knows how it's killing you

But there's a kind of love that God only knows

God only knows ---- but I think those who know God well also know! There is an ability to connect with his heart and then to reach others with the very thing someone who is hurting needs. God knows the opportunities ---- we need to trust him to lead us well in those moments when they reveal themselves. To become his hands and feet in a world where opportunities to express his love abound. Just sayin!

Rejoice ---- and again ----

There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice. (John Calvin) Too often we almost pass by tremendous things of beauty and never even consider they were put there for our enjoyment! I stop to watch the inch worm make his way from one leaf to another. I observe the slowness and tenacity of the small snail in the garden. I notice the fragility of the opening bud on the hibiscus bush knowing full-well it will be short-lived, but cast such a brightness into the garden. I watch as the leaves slowly descend to the ground on a hot summer's day. These were meant for our enjoyment, not just a casual glance now and again!

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be happy today! (Psalm 118:24)

This morning I wish to ask a question: "What have you only casually observed this week?" This is a tough question to answer with all honesty, but I believe it is a necessary one! It could be the very thing you have 'casually observed' this week is yourself, or that person right across the room from you right now. I see us all fall into this trap from time to time - looking but not really seeing; hearing but not really listening; thinking but not really considering. If God made all things for us to enjoy - even the hairy spider trapped in between the window screen and glass - then why do we miss so much of it? It could be we are just to absorbed in other things to rejoice in their beauty and purpose! All things and people were created for a purpose - regardless of how 'ugly' they may appear!

We might miss what our psalmist is telling us if we aren't careful. His words are not just mere advice to us - they are a remedy to our not listening, considering, and seeing! We spend so much time focusing on 'getting happy' that we forget it isn't something we achieve - it is a result of us taking time to rejoice! Rejoice first - happiness will follow! Look at the 'order' in which he presents the topic: 'This day', 'Rejoice', and 'Be happy'. First we get the day into focus - we don't let it get away from us. We bring it into focus and then we rejoice in it! That very action of focusing and rejoicing will result in the best thing every - we get 'happy' in it. We may not look forward to everything ahead of us - like considering how to remove that hairy spider from the predicament he finds himself in - but when we take time to notice what he has made and then rejoice in it, we find well-springs of happiness that soon fill our souls.

Why is it our hair kind of stands on end and we get a little shiver up our back as we take notice of that hairy wolf spider trapped in the window? Maybe the response of our body is even a thing of beauty we should be rejoicing in - because God made us with those responses to danger as equally as he made us with those responses we observe with the things that bring us immediate delight! Even the 'ugly things' in life have a way of causing us to rejoice - for God created those warning responses to help keep us safe and secure. He reminds us there are always going to be 'ugly things' attempting to find an inroad into our life, but he also reminds us he has made a way for us to escape - making the rejoicing all that much better! So....rejoice! Just sayin!

Hello! It is me again! May I come in?

I remember welcoming my two grandsons into this world, privileged to be at both of their births. The joy was overwhelming, but so was the relief. The relief that my daughter had made it through, that the pain was over, and that she would stabilize her very stressed body. She suffered from high blood pressure, excessive swelling, and lots of health worries just prior to delivering the boys. When we welcome someone, or something that can occur, we are actually expressing a little bit of pleasure in the moment. There will be memories attached to it, but there might also be a little bit of work! Welcoming new life into this world is a lot of work. So is welcoming Jesus into your life! You don't have to 'do the work' of being forgiven for your sins, but you do have a 'lot of work' ahead of you in learning how to make right choices and 'rework' what have become bad patterns or habits in your life! Good news is that we don't do it alone!

It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me! (Romans 10:9-10)

The word for our day is "welcome". A word we can use as interjection when one's arrival gives one PLEASURE. This is like saying, "Welcome, stranger!" That is how it is with us when we first "welcome" Jesus into our lives - he is a "stranger" to us at first. His ways are a little foreign to us, his purpose for our lives seems a little like setting out into the unknown, so we welcome him, but as a stranger, not as a familiar member of our lives. Yet, in welcoming him in, there is the infilling of such pleasure that we are overjoyed by his presence. At other times, this borders on a greeting of kindly COURTESY. This is like saying, "Let's give him a warm welcome". There are times I think we treat Jesus this way - kind of formally welcoming him, but not really excited about his arrival or his purpose! We extend the "courtesy" of allowing him access into our daily lives without really much forethought or "end-thought" for that matter. Our relationship with Jesus is quite different when we anticipate the pleasure his presence brings vs. extending him a mere courtesy of access!

There is also the idea of RECEIVING something we will experience in a new or deeper way as we welcome someone or something into our lives. This is like saying, "It was a welcomed time of rest." When we welcome Jesus into our lives, we are welcoming all we will receive at his hands. This means that we welcome (move from mere acquaintance into practical experience) all that he brings our way. It means we give someone the FULL RIGHT to something we hold access to alone. This is like saying, "He is welcome to give it a go." When we welcome Jesus in this manner, we are really telling him that we don't want to give it a try alone! We want him right there, alongside us, helping us with the issue at hand. We "grant" him the right to be in control - to move us from "trying" into actually "experiencing" what it is he has in mind for us.

Last, but not least, there is the negative meaning of welcome that we cannot overlook. This is the idea of an UNWANTED welcome. This is like telling Jesus he has "worn out" his welcome! I hope we are not at that place EVER with our Lord! Yet, I wonder if there are times when we just want to ask him to "leave" for a while - because the "heat" is too hot, the "intensity" is too intense. We may feel that his presence is a little "no longer welcomed" because we really did not count the cost before we stepped into what he asked us to do. It is the "word of faith" that welcomes Jesus to go to work in our lives. I think this is kind of like telling Jesus, "You are welcome to have full access to my life." We are doing more than being "courteous" to Jesus - we are viewing that his work in our lives will ultimately produce "pleasure" beyond our imagining. I have times when I am guilty of welcoming Jesus in a half-hearted manner. I think this is human nature. Thank goodness, I have more times now of welcoming him with eager anticipation. That is the process we refer to as growth - moving from courteous welcoming of Jesus' work in our lives into a place where we are cheerfully embracing his work! So, how have you been welcoming Jesus this week? Just askin!

Considering Veneers?

There are “friends” who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24)

There is an optical illusion about every person we meet. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) What is the 'illusion' you are displaying right this very minute? Regardless of how 'genuine' you believe yourself to be, there are just times when you 'put on display' something quite different from what is really going on inside. It is kind of hard to be 'genuine' all the time - especially around those you may not know very well, or trust very deeply. When you do find that individual you feel totally comfortable around, I would challenge you to ask yourself the question about what you still portray as an 'optical illusion', even in that very close relationship. At first, you might just say there is nothing you keep from that individual, but let me ask you if you have ever tried to keep something from God. If the answer is 'yes' to that one, then let me just say it is highly unlikely you have no 'optical illusions' in your earthly relationships either!

An illusion is something 'put forward' in such a way so as to obstruct the true interpretation of the true nature of something. The road ahead appears to narrow, especially if you can see miles ahead on a straight path. Does it really? No, it is an illusion because of the perspective you have of that road from the vantage point you maintain. While up in an airplane, every plot of farmland may appear to be very perfectly 'portioned', straight lines dividing one portion from the other. On the ground, the same fields may appear to all run into each other seamlessly. Perspective often determines the degree of 'illusion revelation' one might have! Have you ever seen someone with veneers covering their teeth. On the way home the other day, I noticed someone's 'snap-on' veneers for their front teeth cast aside on the ground. What had once been a likely 'lovely set' of front teeth when they came into work were now nothing more than trash by the wayside! The illusion was broken!

I have a friendship that allows me to 'come close' to being my true self, but even at my most revealing, I imagine I hold a little back. Most of us do. We don't intend to, but we guard ourselves just a little. It is either because we aren't quite comfortable with who we are ourselves, or we aren't quite sure the other party is ready for us to totally be 'real' around them! Our heavenly Father doesn't want us to 'come close' to being our true self with him, though. In fact, he relishes time times we come just as we are - warts and all - and just settle into the comfort of knowing he doesn't judge us, nor does he see us as hopeless. He embraces us and loves us just as we are. My closest friendship is like that - we settle into the comfort of knowing we don't judge each other and we can be 'comfortable' with each other, warts and all. There is no good way to cover your warts, my friends. It is all an illusion that will one day be cast aside as nothing more than a veneer! Just sayin!

So, just spill the beans...

You don't just have a story - you're a story in the making, and you never know what the next chapter's going to be. That's what makes it exciting. (Dan Millman) If every chapter of our lives was opened with the words, "My purpose in writing this chapter in your lives is...", we'd feel a whole lot better about what is going on at the moment! The truth is, we don't know the end from the beginning, so we enter each new chapter of our lives with just a little bit of fear, a tiny bit of doubt, and maybe even an overwhelming amount of both! When we commit our hearts to Christ, believing that Jesus is God's Son, our "end result" will be eternal life in Christ Jesus. This very fact leads us to a place of "boldness" in approaching God with whatever our heart is burdened with - the ability to face the 'next chapter' with a boldness we don't possess on our own.

My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours. (I John 5:13-15)

Belief is more than a head knowledge that Jesus exists, that he is the Son of God - it is a heart knowledge that actually influences our behavior. When we "believe in" Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are saying we will "adhere to" his commandments - his teachings, the examples he gave us in his walk on this earth, the promises he made to his followers. When we "believe in" Jesus, we are making both a heart and head commitment to "trust in" him - his strength, his love, his grace, his peace that passes our limited understanding - all of it. When we "believe in" we are really saying we are in a place where we are ready to RELY UPON that one we believe in.

That very "believing" attitude is what brings us to a place where we are totally "settled in" our minds, hearts, and emotions as to who it is we are serving, what it is we are engaged in, and what the end result of our service will be. We will have "absolute" knowledge - not just some ethereal knowledge (pie in the sky kind of stuff) - but total awareness that God is real, his promises are assured, and his commitment to keep us in his care is totally "in force" within our lives. Remember - when we commit to Christ, we ALREADY have eternal life - we don't work to get eternal life - it is already an assured thing. That "confidence" that is produced by knowing we have committed it all to Christ and that he has committed his ALL in order to bring us to a place of "privileged boldness" is what God has in mind here.

I have spent some time exploring the historical sites of our founding fathers, but I have a whole lot more to explore. The thing that impressed me in my explorations was the commitment of the men and women who came to this country with the hopes of being free. That is kind of how it is with us as we "leave" our country of birth (sin) and establish ourselves in our new country of rebirth (salvation). We leave behind the old, allowing the new to be established within us, and in time, the new becomes the way of life we pursue with a confidence that we have made the right steps. We have a "privileged boldness" in our new life. A boldness based in the fact that "in Christ" we are assured that when we make any request of God that is in agreement with his plan for our lives, he listens to us and hears us.  He listens AND he hears. We have a tendency in our society to just listen, without ever hearing the message being conveyed. We are inundated with all kinds of messages each day - some worthy of really hearing, others not so much - so we have learned to shut out some of them. All that comes to God, he listens to AND he hears. No message brought to him (prayer, seeking heart, need expressed) is ever NOT heard. It is heard, the meaning hidden within the request is known, and he works to help us through the answer we receive. We sometimes think he doesn't hear because we don't get the answer we hoped for, but remember, even a "no" or a "not now" answer is an answer!

The thing that we most often "trip up on" is in our not even asking God for what it is that burdens our hearts, trips us up repeatedly, or is just a dreamy desire. We somehow don't take the effort, time, or "risk" of asking because we don't have a confidence to ask, or may we don't think it is worthy to bring to God - as though it was a waste of his time. We have a "privileged boldness" in Christ Jesus. Bring it! God will "sort through" what may not be to our benefit at this moment - like when we ask him to help us win the lottery! He will "sort through" what seems to be a muddled mess of emotions - getting at the heart of what it is we are really experiencing at that moment. Our part is to take full advantage of our "privileged boldness" to just bring it all to him. God stands ready to hear from us - his word to us today is to simply "Bring it on!" Just sayin!

Truth remains truth

I am in the process of some 'refinishing' projects around the yard - simply because the hot Arizona sun dries everything out, making anything wood very dry looking in a rather short order. The raised beds are in need of a good coat of paint. Not exactly the job you want to undertake when it a blazing 100 degrees outside! In the next couple of months, I will watch for one of those days when it is only going to be a 'mild' 100 degrees and undertake the project then. Why do I to do the job without much delay? The more the wood is exposed to the extremes, the more damage it will sustain. Nothing lasts forever, does it? God's love, his grace, and his words - these are everlasting and eternal. My raised flowerbeds are not!

“Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words remain forever. (Matthew 24:35)

Things today are not as they were yesterday and they won't be the same tomorrow. All of life around us is in a constant state of flux or change. Even the most 'constant' processes have some degree of variation! I am so glad to know God's love is never in a state of flux! I may not always appreciate his love, thinking I have to do something to earn it, but it remains unchanging regardless of how I approach it! I may not understand how his grace can be there each and every time I stand in need of it to be extended in my life, but it is! I certainly don't know how his words have remained consistently true from generation to generation, but they are never changing and always can be relied upon. We may not understand the 'how' or 'why' behind these 'unchanging' things, but we reap the benefits from their stability!

Truth is a 'fixed thing' - it is not changeable. We can attempt to add to it, but do we really add anything of value to genuine truth? Truth is 'unchanging' - but do we ever try to mold it to fit our needs, desires, or wants? If truth is a fixed or unchangeable thing, then of what value is it trying to add to it or 'morph it' into something different? Wouldn't we have to admit we are just doing so to fit some selfish or misdirected need of our own mind or heart? We are sometimes guilty of trying to make something fit into our way of thinking rather than adjust our way of thinking to fit the truth we are resisting so aggressively! Truth was never meant to change with the times. The times were made to conform to the truth! Just sayin!

A little resistance training

It was Emerson who reminded us, "We gain the strength of the temptation we resist." There is much to be said about 'resistance', but the greatest realization we can experience is that when we are resisting, we are allowing the strength of that which we resist to be weakened. We resist the urge to respond in anger and anger's appeal begins to wane. We resist the need to always control and we begin to see there are other opportunities that come to light when another is given a little of that control. Why does resistance actually make us stronger? We are working against a force - strength always comes when we work against a force. We may not realize it, but what we were resisting actually has a diminished strength the next time we resist it. Why? We have grown stronger and the strength it takes to resist again is now less than it was before!

So give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

Give yourself to the right stuff and resist the wrong stuff - you will be surprised how much your strength grows! Those who engage in resistance training will remind you of several things. First, your own body can be the very thing you begin to use as a means of building strength into your muscles. You see, your body acts as a 'resistance' - it provides the force to build muscle. Don't believe me? While you are there right now, lift your leg using only the strength of your leg/abdomen muscles and hold it there for two minutes. Did you make it? Your own body's weight was being acted upon by the resistance force known as gravity and your body likely began to feel the strength of gravity's pull! This is a basic illustration of how resistance is actually helping us build 'muscle' over time.

Now, if we want to build 'muscle' of any sort, we have to concentrate on that which we want to 'build'. We wouldn't want to just focus on our upper arms at the expense of our shoulders, chest, lower arms, and even our hands. Why? Upper arm strength alone won't help us open that jar of pickles! We need to build all the muscles equally. In a similar manner, we need to build the 'spiritual muscles' we need to continually resist the devil's pull in life. Temptation is aimed at our weak muscles! It isn't aimed at the places we are already very strong. So, rob temptation of it's strength! Resist it a little more each time and see how much strength becomes your own in the process! Just sayin!

Inside my skin

"Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too." (Frederick Buechner) 

Whose 'skin' have you been living in this week? I know a good many individuals who never 'get out of' their own skin long enough to realize what it is like living in someone else's skin. Their days are filled with 'me', 'me', 'me' - leaving little room for any other concern a brother or sister may be enduring. It is a truly sad existence to never get out of one's skin! Compassion isn't given any other way. The genuineness of one's caring is really not 'felt' by the other person until the 'compassion connection' is really made.

It’s criminal to ignore a neighbor in need, but compassion for the poor—what a blessing! (Proverbs 14:21)

The other person is overtaken by something that causes great pain for them. They may or may not reveal their pain openly, but know this - it is painful nonetheless. Be the kind of friend that recognizes their 'hidden pain' even when they are not yet comfortable admitting it exists. There is sorrow inside that other person's skin - you will discover it when you crawl inside their world for just a while. There is no joy felt deeper than when it is the joy that comes from sharing the burden with another who is hurting, fearful, or lost in their pain.

What is your neighbor's need? Sometimes we think we have to know someone so well in order to understand or acknowledge their need. Trust me on this - you can learn a lot about a person by walking a while in their skin! You may not know them well when you start the journey, but you will get insight into their life very quickly when you take that first step. It doesn't take much to lift the spirits of the one alone in their pain, sorrow, or fear. It takes you caring enough to do more than say you care! 

I don't know what it is like to lose a leg, but a good friend of mine has experienced it first-hand. Her struggles are real. Her pain is more than 'adjusting' to life without that limb. I haven't lost a child, but I have friends who have. Their pain is not just for the loss, but there is sometimes a sense of guilt for having 'outlived' them. I may not know that loss, or those feelings of pain, but I am able to understand they don't need to walk alone. I don't need to tell them their loved one is in a 'better place' - that isn't what they need to hear. They just need me to 'get inside their skin' a while and walk with them through that grief. If we want to be Jesus to the world, it starts by being Jesus to each other. Just sayin!

Let me begin by saying....

What do you talk to Jesus about? I mean, do you do more than shoot up little arrow prayers from time to time when the challenge is a little harder than you might like, or do you actually have conversations with him about the things in life that you know perfectly well need some attention? It is easy to have those superficial conversations with anyone, including God. To have those deeper, more intimate, and sometimes very 'telling' conversations is just a bit harder. Yet, it is in the conversation that truth begins to be revealed - and where truth is revealed there is the potential of a 'mark' being left. Truth leaves something behind every time. It has a way of declaring 'new ground' oftentimes never quite seen before.

Scripture reassures us, "No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it." It's exactly the same no matter what a person's religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. "Everyone who calls, 'Help, God!' gets help." But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?
(Romans 10:11-14)

You may find that calling out to God ensures we develop and use a listening ear each and every time - a little hard to believe, but it is true! God listens AND he hears - to both our superficial and more intimate stories shared! As a little girl, I learned the old story about "crying wolf" too many times. The idea of "crying wolf" was really a symbol of sounding a false alarm - of being manipulative and only half-truthful in what you were declaring in order to draw attention to yourself. In other words, you think you are declaring you are in trouble, but really the threat is not real. The most amazing thing about God is that he really doesn't differentiate between us "crying wolf" and really being in trouble! He just listens and responds to each and every request we bring before him!

How can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? This is the question for all times, is it not? We often don't believe what we hear because we have heard so many different stories, so many lies, and been duped so many times. It is a sad fact, but true. Trust has been broken so many times by those we hold close to us, or those we really should be able to trust by nature of their position. No wonder society asks, "Who can be trusted?" God has not changed! He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is the unchanging one and as such, can be counted on to remain faithful in all he does and says (Deuteronomy 7:9). How can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? There is a tendency to "be in the dark" about things until someone shares with you what you have been missing. When that moment comes, there is a release that comes. That release causes us to see things in a totally new light - we move from a lack of awareness to a fresh awareness (light).

There is a responsibility to share our foundation of hope with those around us - not "hoard" Jesus to ourselves. The scripture is clear - if no one tells the world, how are they to know? Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a "stand on the street corners, shouting repent to the world" kind of gal! The fact is that Jesus came to tell us about his father in heaven, and he asks us to tell others about him, as well (John 8:26). How can they hear if nobody tells them? Telling is the ability to give an account, to report what one has done. All Jesus asks of us is to share what he has done in our own lives. It is an "accounting" for the hope we have. The hope we have is based on the testimony of ONE - Jesus. He came to tell us the way back to relationship with God - our testimony is to point others to that same hope (I John 5:11). It is to be our goal to be a living message of the truth that Jesus sets lives free.

How is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? What many of us really resist is the fact that we have been "called" and that "calling" includes being "sent". To be called simply means that we have been invited to be part of the family of God. To be sent means that we extend that invitation to others. Plain and simple. Just as we confide in a close friend, Jesus is standing ready to have us confide in him. He invites us to bring our hurts, our hopes, and our cries for help - both real and imagined. He sorts through each of them to "weed out" the perceived threats from the real ones. He is not concerned that we may "cry wolf" now and again - in fact, he uses those times as "teachable moments" to show us how he can be trusted, that he has things in his hands, and that there is NOTHING that can stand against us. There is a process of learning to "tell Jesus" our concerns, but it is best to allow him to bring out those things that really are at the core of our complaints and our concern. In so doing, he is teaching us. We are learning to pray - to talk to him openly. This is a good thing.

That process of "telling" Jesus is more than just "telling" him what we think he wants to hear. Too many times, we learn to "tell" others and Jesus something the way we think it should be rather than the way it really is! Jesus relishes our honesty and our willingness to share - even if it comes with a tendency to "cry wolf" on occasion. So, if we want to learn to "tell the world", we must first learn to "tell Jesus". No testimony to the world will be as effective as that which has already been discussed at the feet of Jesus! Just sayin!

Be careful with those weeds

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

I look at my garden at times and wonder where all the weeds come from. It isn't as though I plant those seeds. I don't even encourage them to find their way into my yard, much less take root in my soil. Have you ever stopped to consider the 'value' of a weed? I found out many are edible and you may have actually find you have even eaten some this very week! We probably all know dandelion leaves are edible, but how many of us have gnoshed on them? Watercress grows at the creek bed and was often a delicacy my dad would delight in on a hot summer's day of fishing. Lamb's quarter is a common weed in many gardens and we probably pluck it up, casting it aside in the rubbish bin. Yet, it is purported to have a taste similar to spinach and is even healthier for you! Not all weeds are bad - just as not all people are bad because of their labels!

“God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed that a man plants in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds. But when it grows, it is the largest of all garden plants. It becomes a tree big enough for the birds to come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32)

From the tiniest of seeds come some of the greatest virtues. Moral excellence doesn't spring up because it is the most aggressive seed in the garden of our souls. It springs forth because the conditions are right for it to grow! Weeds might seem like they have no 'excellence', but we can disprove that theory! What seems like the most unlikely character trait for God to use might just actually prove as a worthy thing in his hands. Don't discount the potential he sees in that tiny seed within you - he hasn't! Plantain is a weed, yet the nutritional value of the leaves of this common weed are astronomical. Not every weed is worthless - sometimes we just have to look deeper to see the value contained within. Yet, too many weeds in our garden can actually become a hazard to the garden growth. Why? The weeds give safe haven to destructive insects! Weeds may be fine in some cases, but if we allow an overgrowth, we may not be able to preserve the 'virtue' of the rest of the garden!

Did you ever stop to consider that weed seeds exist in every square inch of your garden, but it is those that are in the top one to two inches of the garden that spring up? Turning the soil of your garden doesn't ensure there will be no other weeds that spring forth! It might actually serve to give the buried seeds enough of what they need to grow! Maybe this is why God asks us to allow him to tend the gardens of our souls - turning over time and time again the soil of our souls so that every weed seed has an opportunity to be exposed. Those that won't harm us, he might allow to grow so they add something of excellence to our gardens. Those that will soon harbor unwelcome inhabitants he will encourage us to actively 'weed out' because he is fully aware of how damaging their presence can be. We don't always know what a seed will produce. Stop for a moment to consider the mustard seed. It is actually a weed! I would find it hard to enjoy a hot dog fresh off the grill on a summer's eve without the rich yellow condiment, though! It lends flavor to the dog, doesn't it? It adorns it with contrasting color and it awakens the taste buds as you take it in.

The seed may not always produce good things, but in the hands of Jesus each seed has the potential of being either cultivated or weeded out appropriately. Sometimes I think we are too quick to discount the value of the 'growth' that springs forth just because we didn't see the seed planted! Just sayin!

Not down for long

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. 

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Back in the day, Hasbro toy company introduced a simple little toy in the shape similar to an egg referred to as a "Weeble". There were firemen and doctor Weebles - dogs, cats, kids, and other barn animals - families and townsfolk alike. Small villages of these things could keep young children amused for hours. The whole 'draw' for these things was their marketing jingle - Weebles Wobble, but they don't fall down. Sure it would tilt from side to side, but it would 'right' itself rather quickly, making it quite easy for little hands to set up those townsfolk and barn critters. They were created with a very specific way of maintaining equilibrium - gravity causing it to return to an upright position without any real effort. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have such a center of equilibrium that we always came out 'righted' every time we started to fall?

The Lord saves the godly! He is their salvation and their refuge when trouble comes. Because they trust in him, he helps them and delivers them from the plots of evil men. (Psalm 37:39-40)

We actually do have the ability to be 'righted' before we fully fall, bringing us back to a place of internal equilibrium. We probably don't understand in much better than we understood those tiny toys of yesteryear, but it is there within us. The presence of God's Spirit in our lives makes it impossible for us to stay down long - he is that force that re-centers us and 'rights us' when we begin to fall. The thing is that we don't always have to understand something to trust how it will perform. I didn't understand the wobbly little play toys at first, but in time I came to understand they were created specifically to withstand the falls. I wonder if we might also have been created specifically to withstand the many trips and falls along the way in our own lives? After all, we were created with a void in our lives only capable of being filled with the Spirit of God! 

His presence doesn't assume we won't ever topple over - succumbing to some force that overtakes us at a moment in time. It does mean that we won't remain in that toppled state for long, though! We might 'wobble' a bit, but we don't have to stay down - his presence is there to help us be 'righted' in that upright position once again. Here is the lesson of the day - nothing needs to keep us down. God's presence within us gives us authority over every force pulling against us. The heavy base in the Weeble used gravity as a means to 'right' the toy. There is much more to God's Spirit than the ability to always help us be 'righted' when we are about to fall or have fallen already, though. His Spirit is there to actually help us recognize when the opposing forces are about to launch the attack that would like nothing more than to see us down for the count! Just sayin!

A little change in direction may be helpful

Mom had a saying when she couldn't find something. She'd say she "put it away so carefully, so as to find it the next time," only to find it was nowhere to be found when she needed it! Have you ever been looking so diligently for something only to find that what you sought with such great earnestness was right there in front of you all the time? When you finally realize that the object of your search was just within your reach, didn't you feel a little silly having spent all that time and energy in the seeking? It's kind of like you just have to say, "Duh! Here it is!" and give yourself a little knock on the head!

Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don't see him; quietly but surely he's active, and I miss it. (Job 9:11)

A process in the business world known as "building shared vision" is usually facilitated by bringing a group of people together for a period of time to tap into what it is that they imagine for the success of the group. Get the right people at the table and this can be a very good exercise. Get a mixed group at the table and you might find it a little more of a challenge. Get the wrong group at the table and who knows what you will get. It is all about getting the people in the group to bring their thoughts and ideas into play as they "vision" the work they do as a group, or what they see as the outcome of their work. It opens communication, gets people on the same page, identifies some barriers to "being on the same page", and can help a group see the steps necessary to move forward in a full "team approach".

In the end, the group will be asked the telling question: "How do we get there from here?" I think this is a question that we often ask God in our daily walk. We see ourselves in some present circumstance, imagine what we'd like to see come out of that circumstance, and then we stand there wondering what steps we will have to take to realize the end that it is we are hopeful of achieving. We stand at an intersection - one path leads to one outcome, the other to quite a different one. At the moment of decision, we stand there asking "WHY" do we choose one or the other - often deliberating to the point that we don't move at all. The goal of a good group "facilitator" is to give people the chance to talk things out. In other words, the "facilitator" asks the "who", "what", "where", "when", and "how" questions with skillful tact. The ones in the group answer while the facilitator "pulls out" common themes. I think Jesus does this with us. We stand at that decision point in our lives, he spends a little time with us "pulling out" the common themes of past choices we have made that got us in our present circumstance (and others like it), then allows us to figure out that choosing the path in that direction will just lead us into the same muddle again!

I often hear believers say, "I just don't know what God wants me to do!" To that I simply answer, "He has probably facilitated this conversation with you multiple times already - you just did not recognize it was him facilitating that discussion!" We've probably uttered the words, "Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don't see him; quietly but surely he's active, and I miss it." We are so focused on the intersection of familiar choice vs. best choice that we don't see him moving down the path of best choice ahead of us. The path of best choice is often the one we have never been on before! I have a pastor friend that says it this way: "If we always do what we've always done, we will always get what we've always gotten!" So, think that through today. Ask yourself this question: "What path have I settled into a little bit of a comfort-zone while traveling?" It may very well be that God will bring you to an "intersection" moment soon. In that moment, let God "facilitate" that discussion that "pulls out" the common themes of past choices that may not have been all that helpful to you. In that "discussion with God", stop long enough to realize his movements - then ask yourself, "Can I get THERE from where I am traveling today?" If the the answer is "probably not", then perhaps it is time for a change of course! Just sayin!

Let me sit down for a while!

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) 

There have been lots of times I hiked on paths just way too hard for my level of conditioning. I don't know why I do it, but somehow I think I will make it. About a third of a way to the destination my body begins to tell me I bit off more than I can chew and in a short while it begs for me to just turn back! When we find ourselves on a path that is hard, maybe even what we might come to recognize as 'too hard' for us, what do we do? Turn back? Rest a while and go on? Creep forward at a snail's pace because we won't be fazed by the torture of moving forward? If you are like me, you rest a bit, then press on. You might find you need frequent rests along the way, but eventually you make it to the destination. Worn out, aching from the exertion, maybe even with a few blisters to show the 'torture' of the climb - but you made it. Making it isn't the main thing - it is probably more important we are on the right journey!

Your words are a flashlight to light the path ahead of me and keep me from stumbling. (Psalm 119:105)

The path we choose is often a result of our mindset at the moment. As a novice hiker, I didn't realize you could actually research the 'degree' of difficulty of a trail. In fact, most marked trails have a trailhead that describes the degree of difficulty so you don't bite off more than you can chew! Ignore the signs and you may find yourself on a path that just isn't all the easy, or all that worthwhile! You won't enjoy the climb if it is much more than you are ready to handle! In fact, you could even be endangering yourself by being on the climb in the first place. I am not ready to climb Kilimanjaro, so to undertake that venture would be more than dangerous! I learned a simple lesson about trails - it is a way of calculating the climb. An easy trail is usually less than three miles, pretty flat, and usually able to be traversed without much change in elevation. A moderate trail is a lot harder, not only because it somewhere between three to five miles in length, but there are inclines and climbs requiring some agility and exertion. A moderately strenuous trail is just about above my level of conditioning, though. The terrain involves a steep climb or two, strenuous at best, and is labeled quite clearly as NOT suitable for those that are unconditioned to the climb.

Wouldn't it be nice if all our 'climbs' in life could be as clearly labeled for us? If we have a journey we are being asked to take and could consider the 'condition' of our soul and spirit ahead of time, would that journey make us take more time to prepare before we set out on it? Maybe! Would we be as quick to launch out with our unconditioned or "Under-Conditioned" souls? Probably not! We'd want a little 'conditioning' before we launched forward. Wouldn't it be much better to be 'always ready' for the climb ahead - regardless of the degree of hardness? I am not there yet - how about you? Until that time, I will allow God's Word to continue to condition my soul and spirit - climbing those trails he prepares for me and trusting him to show me how best to prepare for the next one that will likely be just a little more challenging. That is all we can really do, my friends. Prepare, be ready, and then be 'in tune' with the path we are about to travel. Don't be afraid to ask our 'trail guide' to point us along those trails for which we are best suited to climb - challenging us a little, but clearly not beyond our degree of readiness! Just sayin!

STOP, just STOP

Ever take time to consider some of the 'four-letter' words you use on a daily basis? Maybe some of them aren't all that 'good' for us to be using, but there are others we may use that we haven't really taken time to consider their meaning. GIVE is a four-letter word that can mean we seek something that we desire to have in our possession to the idea of having some flexibility in a situation. STOP is a powerful four-letter word. There are 39 individual definitions of this one word in the dictionary! Did you have any idea? When we come up to one of these signs on our drive to work this morning, we will obligingly bring the vehicle to a halt, look all four directions, and then take our turn in making the next move we need to make along the way. That is the purpose of the sign! Ignore it and you could find yourself with a dent in your fender, a ticket in your wallet, and more than a little late to work!

Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. (Galatians 6:1-3)

This is a call for us to "stop" long enough to evaluate our response to our brother's actions - the things that bring "burden" into their lives. It is a sad thing, but we rarely "stop" what we are doing, cease from what we are saying, long enough to actually look at the one who is hurting so badly. Sin is a really simple word that has become an issue because compromise is at the core of some decision that is made. We often know what it is we were SUPPOSED to do, but then do exactly the opposite of whatever that was. When we didn't 'stop' before we went too far we find ourselves standing squarely in the need of forgiveness. Not only do we need forgiveness, but we need restoration. Is it possible to do one without the other? I think we often give "lip-service" to our forgiveness without really reaching out to embrace the one who has sinned - because it means we have to 'stop' reacting and begin responding. That is what restoration does - it brings the one who has compromised too much back into a place of being "unimpaired" by the sin. Until there is restoration, forgiveness is incomplete.

Have you ever heard "There, but for the grace of God, go I" come from someone's lips? I find myself sometimes being hard on the "sinner", not just the "sin". I forget that "there, but for the grace of God, go I" and I never should forget that! I have learned that I am really just one step away from the same fall from grace - if I fail to "stop" long enough to realize my course of action, I will end up with compromise in my own life! We need to act in love. It is impossible to really forgive - to restore - without love being at the root of our actions. Forgiveness is more than a mental choice - it is backed by actions that reveal restoration has occurred. We might not realize how close we are to needing the same act of love! We are probably just a few steps away from our own compromises in life and will need the love of Christ to prevail in our lives, as well.

Forgiveness costs us something. Really, it cost Jesus everything, but it does cost us something, as well. It costs us the "right" to be judgmental - harsh on the sinner. We may feel violated by an action of another - with our immediate response being that we want to "hold it against them". When we truly realize that forgiveness has a cost associated with it, we begin to realize that judgment does, too. Judgment actually puts us in a place of bondage to holding the "grudge" long term - continually remembering the "debt" of another and allowing the "interest" on that debt to compound! We have to get out of our place of comfort in order to forgive. Stooping down, sharing the burden, is really not suggestive of "being comfortable" or at ease as it comes to the restoration process. If you have ever tried to restore an old piece of furniture, you will realize the tedious amount of work that goes into it. Stripping away the old, getting rid of all hint that the old even existed, and then replacing that with the new is a lot of work! The same is true with our sin and that of our brother.

When we want to "stop" our compromise, "go" into a place of graceful restoration, and then we need to "remain" in a place free of things that impede our progress in our journey with Christ - we need each other in this place. The next time you see a stop sign in your journey, will you just take a moment to look inward? Is there someone in your life who has been "hung up" at a point of "immobility" in their walk for a while? Perhaps God is asking you to stop what you are doing long enough to reach out to that one who so desperately needs to get moving again. Is there some place in your life where compromise has you "stopped" in your tracks? Perhaps God has brought you to a place where you are face-to-face with your sin. If so, you need the grace he gives, but you also need the "embrace" of another to help you walk out that forgiveness until it becomes "real" in your life. When you come to a place of "stop" in your life - look up! Your forward progress doesn't depend on what lays behind you, but on what is in front of you! Just sayin!